


The Bond of Brothers

by NachoKing99



Series: Like Brothers [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dai-nana-han | Team 7 as Family (Naruto), Eventual Romance, F/M, Family, Friendship, Good Orochimaru (Naruto), M/M, No Uchiha Massacre, POV Alternating, POV Third Person, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:54:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 60,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26326696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NachoKing99/pseuds/NachoKing99
Summary: After the Nine-Tails’s Attack, Uchiha Fugaku inherited Minato’s Hokage hat and son. Under his reign, the village is seeing a time of prosperity: There was no Uchiha Massacre, no Hyuga Affair, and the village is seen as a military power. Two of his three children, Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke, have finally attained their hitai-ate and are ready to begin their journeys as shinobi. As they navigate the complicated Shinobi World, one thing’s for certain: They’ll always have each other.Reading the prequel, “Like Brothers,” isn’t necessary to read this fic.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke, Hatake Kakashi/Original Male Character(s), Hyuuga Hinata/Uzumaki Naruto, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Uchiha Itachi/Original Female Character(s), Uchiha Sasuke & Uzumaki Naruto
Series: Like Brothers [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1913008
Comments: 71
Kudos: 117





	1. Team 7

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own Naruto, obviously.
> 
> This is technically a sequel, but even as its author I'm not too fond of the way I wrote the prequel, Like Brothers. I'm trying my best to write this fic as a stand-alone, but if you have any questions about the canon divergence or characters, don't hesitate to ask!

Sasuke yawns into his hand for the umpteenth time in fifteen minutes. All around him the classroom is buzzing with speculation about the upcoming squad assignments, and Sasuke truly couldn’t care less. They’re all friends anyways, he’ll be fine with being in a squad with anybody in the room. Well, almost anybody. 

In the row in front of him, Naruto is sitting on his desk with his feet on his chair while laughing with Choji. Sasuke purses his lips at his brother’s sudden mood swing. Just yesterday, Naruto was sulking and full of nerves over their final Academy exam. But when they finally got their hitai-ates, Naruto grew absolutely radiant. 

On their way home, Naruto greeted every passing relative and pointed at his hitai-ate with a stupid grin. And during dinner last night, Naruto was bouncing in his seat while telling their parents and Itachi about how his exam went. Their father and Itachi just politely smiled, but their mom completely matched his energy, asking follow up questions and trying to drag Sasuke into the whole ordeal. 

Sasuke rolls his eyes at the thought, but it’s too late when he catches Sakura and Hinata staring at him with concern in their eyes. 

Sakura places a hand on his shoulder and asks, “Is everything alright?”

“Never felt better.”

Sakura doesn’t look convinced, but she claps her hands anyways and asks, “Sasuke, who do you want on your team? Naruto?”

“Hmm. Only if absolutely necessary.”

Sasuke doesn’t want his barely-younger-than-him brother on his team. He doesn’t want to get outshined by Naruto’s radiating attitude that draws everybody into its orbit. Naruto has absolutely zero booksmarts, but even Sasuke has to admit that he can hold his own on the more practical sides of being a ninja. While Sasuke read books with Shisui, Naruto sparred with Itachi. 

“Really?” Hinata timidly says. “I would have thought that you would be more excited to have him on your team.”

Sasuke scoffs, “Don’t project your wishes onto me, Hinata. You’re not the one that has to live with him.”

“Ooooh,” Sakura coos, “Imagine that: Hinata and Naruto living together.”

“Sakura!” she says with a blush forming on her pale cheeks. “He m-might have heard you. Talk quieter, please.” 

“Trust me,” Sasuke says. “The bonehead probably didn’t hear a thing.”

And he’s right, judging from Naruto’s lack of reaction. The blond in front of them didn’t hear, but the blonde behind them makes it very clear that _she_ heard them. 

“Oh?” Ino says, leaning towards them on her desk to invade their conversation. “What’s this I hear about Naruto and Hinata living together?”

Sakura whips her head towards Ino to glare at her while Sasuke keeps his face as passive as possible as Naruto turns around, obviously having heard Ino. 

“Hinata! You wanna come live with me? I don’t know if my room can fit two futons, but we can try!”

Hinata gapes her mouth open and closed like a fish out of water. “That’s n-not—”

Ino immediately interrupts her, “Well, if the offer still stands, I’ll take you up on it, Naruto!”

Sasuke heaves a heavy sigh and crosses his arms over his chest. While amusing to watch, Sasuke hopes that for Hinata’s sake she doesn’t end up on a team with Naruto and Ino. Sasuke shares a look with Sakura, and the two of them shake their heads simultaneously. Sasuke just can’t understand the obvious infatuation that these two have for his brother. 

“Ino,” Shikamaru says, finally lifting his head out of his folded arms and turning in his seat to look at them. “I’m pretty sure Naruto wouldn’t want a loudmouth like you living with him. It would be too much of a bother.”

Ino raises her eyebrows at him and opens her mouth just as the door slams open. 

A woman with vibrant red eyes, though not Sharingan, and an unruly mane of black hair gently steps into the classroom. She stands at the front scrutinizing each and every person before finally speaking. “Hello, I’m Yuhi Kurenai, but please call me Kurenai-sensei. I’m the leader of Team 8, which consists of…”

Everybody in the room catches their breath. Sasuke’s mind runs with the idea of possibly having this woman as his teacher. Her voice is pleasant, and she doesn’t seem overtly mean; but, he just has a gut feeling that she won’t call his name.

“…Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba, and Hyuga Hinata.” 

Sakura pats Hinata’s arm and wiggles her fingers goodbye while Sasuke gives her a curt nod. The four of them, the new Team 8, walk out of the room just as somebody else walks in. Ino sucks in a shallow breath behind him. Sakura’s eyes widen ever so slightly, her lips parting as well. 

The blond man is wearing a flak jacket, and has a blue gem dangling off of his right ear as an earring. He has dark green eyes, and what Sasuke knows Ino would describe as “a pretty face”. Sasuke feels as though he’s seen him before at the Leaf Hospital or something, but he isn’t too sure or really cares.

“Hello,” the blond says. “My name is Senju Natsu, but please do call me Natsu-sensei. I’m the leader of Team 9: Haruno Sai, Makino Kitaro, and Nakamura Eri. Please follow me.”

The four members of Team 9 exit the room, but nobody replaces them this time. Sasuke looks around him and instantly realizes who his new team is: Besides himself, Naruto, and Sakura, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio are the only ones remaining. Sasuke groans to himself when he makes eye contact with Naruto, who’s grinning widely at him, probably realizing the same thing. Even Sasuke has to give Naruto _some_ kudos for knowing the tradition of having the Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi team up together. Credit where credit is due, after all. 

A gruff looking man with a sash that says “fire” wrapped around his waist stomps into the room. He has an unlit cigarette dangling from his lips and wastes no time at all when he says, “I’m the leader of Team 10, Sarutobi Asuma. The Ino-Shika-Cho trio please follow me.”

As the three of them get up to leave, Ino winks at Naruto, and Sasuke has to suppress an upward quirk of his lips when he doesn’t notice. Eventually however, Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura are the only ones left in the room. Sasuke rests his chin in his hand, closing his eyes momentarily. 

A surge of memories that he keeps locked at the very bottom of his heart fill the void caused by the back of his eyelids. Passing moments of sparring with Naruto when they were younger. Vague memories of trying to discreetly scrutinize the blonde’s taijutsu techniques with his earlier-than-usually-developed Sharingan (Sharingan are awakened by intense emotion, and Sasuke certainly does _not_ want to relive how he awakened his own). He also sees the times when he begrudgingly helped Naruto with their Academy homework, making comments about how he deserved to fail, but helping him nonetheless. 

Memories of reading under the shade of a tree with Shisui while Naruto and Itachi sparred in the blistering sun also spontaneously appear behind his eyelids, and just as quickly disappear. He would talk with Shisui about anything and everything under that tree until Naruto and Itachi, with their seemingly endless stamina, would decide to call it a day. Of course, neither Naruto, nor Sasuke have ever won a spar against Itachi or Shisui. 

And in one last flash from the past, Sasuke sees his father’s passive looks and only half-interested attention gazing back at him. _Sasuke is nobody important_. His father has never uttered those words, but he knows that they linger on his tongue. All of the half-assed attempts at acknowledging Sasuke is just that: Half-assed. Every ounce of praise that his father sang to Sasuke was half directed to Naruto. When praising Naruto and Itachi, their father is a choir; when praising Sasuke, their father is mute. 

Itachi is the undisputed Uchiha heir, and Naruto is the heir apparent to a clan that their father hopes to be rebuilt. But Sasuke? He has no claim. He has no inheritance. He has no purpose. 

Naruto gets up to sit at Hinata’s old seat, startling Sasuke out of his thoughts. He makes conversation with Sakura, talking about who their teacher might be, but Sasuke doesn’t really care. He just wants to meet their teacher, whoever they are, and go home. 

The three of them wait for a couple of minutes, but nobody shows up. Another 15 minutes, still nobody. After a full _hour_ of waiting, Sasuke can just feel Naruto getting antsy, the clock monotonously ticking in the background. 

“Who do you think we’re going to have, huh Sasuke?” Naruto asks him, bringing him into the conversation. 

“I don’t know.” 

“Well,” Sakura says. “I think that we’re going to have a strong kunoichi.”

“Why?” Naruto asks incredulously. 

“Yes, why indeed?” a man says from behind them. 

Sakura shrieks, Naruto yelps, and Sasuke squawks. Sasuke quickly covers his mouth with his hand, but judging from their smug faces, Naruto and Sakura heard him. Sasuk mentally kicks himself. How did he not notice the man?

The man’s sitting in Ino’s old seat, his feet propped up against the desk, and his chair balancing on its back two legs. He has spiky silver hair, a mask covering his mouth and nose, and his hitai-ate over his left eye. Sasuke swears that he’s seen the man before, but he just can’t put a name to his face; well, a name to half his face. 

“Oh don’t mind me, I’m just catching up on some light reading. Although, I don’t think I’m the strong kunoichi that you’re looking for.”

“I… wha—… who?” Sakura sputters out. 

Sasuke takes a moment to compose himself and school his expression. 

“You’re late,” Sasuke snaps. 

“No I’m not,” the man says, snapping his little book closed. “I’ve been here the entire time. _You_ just haven’t noticed.” 

By now, Sakura has fully recovered and asks, “So are you our jonin-sensei?”

“That depends. Are you my students?”

“Just tell us already,” Naruto says, throwing his head back. “My head hurts thinking about it.”

The man sighs before firmly planting his feet into the ground and standing up. “Hello, I’m Hatake Kakashi, the leader of Team 7. You three are Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Uzumaki Naruto—otherwise known as my subordinates.”

Hatake Kakashi. Sasuke runs the name through his memory. He just can’t seem to know why he recognizes the name. The reason is at the tip of his tongue, but he can’t taste anything.

“Kakashi,” Naruto mutters from next to him. When Sasuke looks at him, and they make eye contact, Naruto snaps his fingers and says, “Captain Kakashi! You’re Itachi’s Anbu Squad Captain!”

“Well, there’s a little something called subtlety, _Naruto_ ,” Kakashi drawls. “But you are correct. I was Itachi’s captain, but to you three, I’m Kakashi- _sensei_.”

Naruto scratches the back of his head in what seems to be embarrassment. Sasuke rolls his eyes, and already knows that his precious eyes might get stuck in the back of his head by the time he becomes a chunin if Naruto is on his team. 

Sakura has her index finger on her chin before she points at Kakashi and says, “Wait, if we’re Team 7, then you are late! You were supposed to come before Kurenai-sensei.”

Kakashi flaps his hand up and down like some bird flapping its wings. “That’s a technicality. Come on, let’s take this outside. I’m sure you three are already over the Academy.”

\---

Naruto follows Kakashi outside with wonder in his eye. He can’t believe that he has a former Anbu Captain as his teacher! Naruto feels a teeth-bearing grin splitting his face, but he just can’t help himself. Itachi used to always, and still does, tell stories about his Anbu missions, and Kakashi was usually the star of the show. Hatake Kakashi, the famous non-Uchiha who possesses the Sharingan and the creator of the Chidori is supposedly an absolute force to be reckoned with.

Kakashi leads them to a terrace overlooking the village and waves at the steps while he leans against the railing, crossing his arms. “So, let’s get to know each other. Likes? Dislikes? Hobbies? Interests?”

“Well, we already know each other,” Sakura says, waving in their general direction. “So why don’t you tell us a little about yourself, Kakashi-sensei?”

Kakashi directs his droopy eye towards the sky. “Hmm. Let’s see. Likes and dislikes? Well I don’t particularly want to tell you. Hobbies? I like doing many different things. Interests? I don’t know, haven’t thought about it.”

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all look at each other with disbelief. This isn’t exactly what Naruto had in mind when meeting his new ninja instructor. He expected somebody that would be more excited to teach them. Somebody peppy or jovial. Somebody with a little more… pizazz. 

“Umm—”

“How did you get the Sharingan?” Sasuke asks, cutting Naruto off. 

Now that Naruto thinks about it, Itachi never did tell him exactly how his Captain obtained the precious and guarded dojutsu. Once upon a time, Naruto thought about what it would be like to have a Sharingan, but never thought about it more than a “what-if” scenario. Kakashi is actually living it. 

Kakashi brings his eye back down from the sky to gaze at them with a misty look. He blinks at them—well, Naruto thinks he’s blinking. He could be winking for all he knows. The four of them sit in silence for an almost uncomfortable amount of time. Naruto bounces his leg, Sakura picks at her dress, and Sasuke remains sitting still with his chin in his hand. 

“Anyways, anymore questions?”

“You didn’t—” Sasuke says. 

“Well if that’s it, let’s meet up tomorrow morning at the Third Training Ground. And don’t eat breakfast; I wouldn’t want you throwing up during training.”

“What time—” but before Sakura can finish her question, Kakashi body flickers away.

The new genin of Team 7 sit in silence for a moment, just pondering over what just happened. Naruto opens his mouth, but closes it immediately after, unsure of what to say. Sasuke stares at the ground like it personally offended him, but it is Sasuke after all. What hasn’t personally offended him?

Sakura sighs, putting her face into her hands. After a few moments, she unties her hitai-ate and combs her fingers through her long hair. “That… wasn’t what I expected.”

“Umm,” Naruto says, trying to make his voice sound cheerful. “He's a good ninja, at least from what Itach' says.” 

“What good is it if he doesn’t want to teach us?” Sasuke sneers, still glaring at the ground that Kakashi was standing on, ruining the happy mood that Naruto was trying to create. 

“We can only hope that he isn’t always like this I guess,” Sakura says, putting her hitai-ate back on and leaning her cheek on her knee. “I mean, not wanting to talk about himself doesn’t necessarily mean that he doesn’t want to teach us.”

Sasuke just grunts in response, but says nothing more. An insufferable silence encompasses the three of them, making Naruto scratch at his arms. 

Naruto abruptly jumps up from his seat, startling Sakura out of her moping, but having no effect on Sasuke. “Come on guys, let’s grab some Ichiraku’s for lunch. I’m starving!” 

“Sure!” Sakura replies. 

“Only if you’re paying,” Sasuke replies at the same time. 

Naruto looks into his frog-styled wallet and shakes his head with a grin before bumping Sasuke with his shoulder. “You of all people should know that I never have money.”

Sasuke tsks and walks off ahead of them. Sakura gnaws on her lip, flicking her eyes between the two of them. 

Naruto waves her off at the same time that Sasuke turns around and says, “I’m only paying for me and Sakura. You’ll just have to beg Mr. Teuchi to place your order on a tab.”

Sakura runs after Sasuke, and Naruto slightly trails behind the two of them, not wanting Sasuke to see the smile on his face. Because just like every other time they’ve gotten ramen, Naruto knows that Sasuke will end up paying for his meal. 

\---

“I realize the screaming pain…” Itachi quietly sings to himself as he props up his leg against the Uchiha Head Family compound wall he’s leaning on and readjusts his ponytail. He first heard the song during a musical based on a tragedy that Shisui forced him to go to, and it just resonates with him for some reason. 

Eventually, he sees a familiar pair of silhouettes in the distance, slowly growing closer and closer. In the glowing sun, Sasuke looks like some navy blue bird while Naruto’s tuff of blond hair looks like the light of a firefly. Itachi starts walking towards them to meet them halfway, passing his fingers over the sign that designates the house as the Uchiha Head Family’s. 

Sasuke has a supposedly passive look on his face, but Itachi can instantly see the annoyance etched on the finer details. Naruto looks as if he’s been thinking too much—which, even Itachi has to admit, his capacity isn’t exactly too high. For now, obviously. Itachi believes in his youngest brother’s ability to learn how to think more critically. 

“How long did he make you wait?” Itachi asks with a raised eyebrow. 

“Over an hour,” Naruto complains. 

“You knew,” Sasuke accuses at the same time. 

“Of course I knew, dear little brothers. Let’s go inside, Utano dropped off some cookies and I have a kettle of hot water ready."

The three of them walk into the house and bustle around the kitchen like practiced clockwork. Itachi grabs the kettle from the stove to set on the table. Sasuke brings over a mug and two teacups from the cabinet. Naruto scrummages through the pantry for green and black tea leaves and brings over a carton of milk from the fridge as well. 

Itachi hums while he pours some hot water in Naruto’s mug before throwing a bag of green tea leaves into the kettle. He watches as Naruto mixes an unhealthy amount of sugar and milk into his mug, creating some distorted version of milk tea. Itachi licks his lips, trying to suppress the urge to ask for a taste. 

"Itach', what’s Kakashi-sensei like?" Naruto asks.

Itachi purses his lips while he thinks about a response and pours himself and Sasuke their cups of tea. 

“He truly values teamwork above all else, so I think that he’ll be a good fit for the two of you and whoever else was placed on your team.”

Sasuke grunts, glaring at Naruto’s sickeningly sweet milk tea while Naruto huffs after trying to drink his tea too soon. Itachi internally sighs, wondering if it really was such a good idea to put the two on the same team. Their father was initially against the idea, but Itachi tried every rhetorical technique he knew in order to convince him otherwise. He can only hope that he made the right decision. 

“Who is your third member anyways?” Itachi asks.

“Haruno Sakura,” Sasuke replies, refusing to make eye contact.

Itachi tries with all of his might to suppress the twinkle that he knows is growing in his eyes. Sasuke would never admit it, but Itachi knows that Sakura is one of his closest friends from his early Academy years. Itachi isn’t much of a betting man, but Uchiha Sakura doesn’t seem like an impossible future. Of course, those who look too far into the future tend to miss the things directly in front of them.

“You must be really happy then.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh nothing, dear brother.” Itachi then takes a bite out of a cookie, truly savoring its decadence. “Come on, we should start dinner before Mother gets home.” 

\---

After eating dinner and getting lectured by his mom about eating his vegetables, Naruto sits outside by the koi pond and stares at the mindless fish swimming about. They swim in a cyclical pattern, swishing their tails and fins with seemingly no care in the world. 

It isn’t until he’s standing right next to him does Naruto notice his dad watching the koi fish as well. He hasn’t changed out of his work attire; he still has his brilliant white Hokage haori draped around his body over his flak jacket, just as how it’s been basically Naruto’s entire life. 

“Minato and Kushina would be proud of you,” his dad starts saying. “Minato was excited to become Hokage, but I’d wager that he was more excited to become a father.”

His dad directs his penetrating gaze directly towards him. Since he grew up with them, Naruto has kind of gotten used to the intense eyes of the Uchiha, but that doesn’t stop the small shiver pulse throughout his body. 

“Yeah.”

“Naruto, you are my son just as much as Itachi and Sasuke are. But, we can only imagine what would have been if you were raised by Minato and Kushina…”

“Well, being raised by you and mom was way better than being left on the streets or some orphanage,” Naruto insists, and he truly means it. 

Even though they aren’t related by blood, Naruto has never felt like an outcast in his family. His blond hair never stops his mom from buying him new jackets when he accidentally tore his old ones. His weird whisker birthmarks never stops Itachi from treating him exactly like he treats Sasuke. His different surname never stops Sasuke from simply referring to him as his brother to other people. 

“I suppose you’re right,” his dad relents. 

“Dad,” Naruto meekly says. “I’m really glad that you’re my dad.”

His dad places a heavy hand on top of his head. “Me too, son. Me too.”


	2. The Bell Test

> We fight  
>  We heal  
>  We shatter  
>  And mend
> 
> We laugh  
>  We cry  
>  We sing  
>  And harmonize
> 
> We survive  
>  We persevere  
>  We live  
>  And die
> 
> A team is we  
>  Not I  
>  —“We”, a poem by an anonymous author and used as Academy reading material

\---

Sasuke enters the kitchen with bleary eyes and bedhead. He pours himself a cup of coffee, not truly considering it ‘breakfast’, and sits across from Itachi at the dining table. 

“Good morning, Sasuke. Do you have training or something with Captain Kakashi?” Itachi asks him, probably wondering why he’s awake so early. “Rookie genin missions don’t start until tomorrow.”

Sasuke scrutinizes his older brother, but doesn’t find anything incriminating from the question. That, or Sasuke is simply too tired to notice. 

“Probably.”

“Well,” Itachi says while getting up and setting his own coffee mug in the sink. “Be careful not to strain yourself. Captain Kakashi can be a little intense at times, but he genuinely just wants to help you.”

Sasuke grunts, thinking back on yesterday. Sasuke is still irritated that Kakashi didn’t answer his question about his Sharingan. After being told about the indispensable value of the Sharingan for his entire life, is it really a crime to be curious about how this non-Uchiha obtained the precious Sharingan? 

Sasuke doesn’t like not knowing. While Naruto may be content with some amount of ignorance, Sasuke has an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. 

“Say bye to Naruto for me when he wakes up, I need to go now.”

“Bye, Itach',” Sasuke mutters after Itachi’s already left. 

\---

Naruto and Sasuke meander their way through the village on their way to the Haruno residence. Naruto makes sure to greet every passing relative with various waves and good mornings, even being offered a free pastry by one of their bakery owning aunts, but he aptly declines after remembering Kakashi’s words about breakfast. 

“Hey Sakura! Sai!” Naruto exclaims, vividly waving at them after seeing them in front of their apartment. 

The two of them walk up to Sasuke and Naruto, Sakura grinning at them while Sai maintains his usual straight face.

“How was your jonin-sensei, Sai?” Sasuke asks. Sasuke is always weirdly talkative when it comes to Sai, but Naruto supposes it’s not a bad thing. After what they went through to help Sai in their childhood, of course they would be pretty close. Saving a friend from abusive foster parents isn’t exactly a part of everybody’s childhood. 

“Natsu-sensei?” Sai says. “Hmm, he was quite cheerful, but he’s not very good at drawing. We had a sketching competition, and he struggled with making straight lines, which is weird because apparently, he’s a medical ninja, so you would expect him to be precise for surgery.”

Sakura rolls her eyes at the explanation, putting a hand on her hip. “Criticizing his drawing abilities aside, he means that he got the son of Princess Tsunade as his teacher.”

“Who’s Princess Tsunade?” Naruto asks, scratching his head. He's for sure heard the name before, but he can’t seem to recall why she’s important. During a couple of Iruka’s history lessons, Naruto may have dozed off a couple of times. Or a few times. 

“You bonehead,” Sasuke says, “she’s considered the greatest medical ninja of our age and is one of the Legendary Sannin of the Leaf. Do you remember that guy that we called ‘Pervy Sage’ when we were younger?” Only after Naruto nods does Sasuke continue. “He’s also one of the Sannin.”

“Really! That guy?” 

Naruto grins to himself at the memory. Pervy Sage was the one to introduce him to his eternal love: Ichiraku Ramen. Naruto swears that he’s going to get married at that restaurant. 

“Anyways,” Sakura interjects, huffing a little, “the point is that Sai and his team is being taught by a literal prince while we have…”

“A former Anbu squad captain,” Naruto fills in cheerfully. 

Even after seeing his less-than-inspiring persona, Naruto is still really excited to see his new teacher in action. Naruto hopes that he’ll even teach them secret Anbu techniques or something. Other than the jutsu learned at the Academy, Naruto only knows the Shadow Clone Jutsu that his dad taught him when he was younger. 

Sakura throws an arm around his shoulders in a headlock and whispers menacingly into his ear, “Don’t you remember what Sensei said? Don’t say that too loudly.”

Naruto flails his arms as he tells her that he won’t do it again. 

Sasuke rolls his eyes. “Come on, we need to meet at the Third Training Ground. Sai, are you meeting with your team too?”

“Yeah, but I’m heading in the opposite direction, so bye Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto.”

With her arm still around Naruto’s shoulders, Sakura waves Sai goodbye and drags Naruto in the direction of the Third Training Ground. Naruto does his best to flash Sai a teeth baring grin under Sakura’s hold, and Sai gives him one of those creepy-looking smiles in response. Behind them, Sasuke stuffs his hands in his pockets and stalks after them.

\---

The three of them lean against the three logs on the training ground. Just as they expected, Kakashi’s late again. At some point, Naruto gets up to start stretching, but Sasuke doesn’t move from his position, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“Sasuke,” Sakura starts saying from next to him out of seemingly nowhere, “why are we even ninja?”

Sasuke jerks his head to look at her, and she has a glassy look in her green eyes. “What?”

She has her knees against her chest, cheek resting on her kneecap. “I think that I just realized that we’re not Academy students anymore. We’re going to have to go on missions. People’s lives will literally be in our hands.”

Sasuke scoffs. “I just don’t think about that stuff. Academy students or genin, who cares?”

“I care!” Sakura bursts out, and Sasuke’s eyes widen slightly. “Sai and I don’t have the protection of the Academy anymore. We’re literally the same rank as our parents.” 

By now Sasuke can see Kakashi’s approaching figure in the distance. He sighs and says, “Let’s talk about this later, okay? Sensei arrived.”

Sakura looks up and slowly nods her head while Sasuke lets out a quiet sigh of relief. She gently slaps her cheeks, blinking away the glassy look. 

Kakashi slowly drags his feet towards them, his lazy gait making Sasuke’s eye twitch somewhat, giving him an easy distraction from what was sure to be an uneasy conversation. By the time that their teacher makes it to the logs, Naruto is bouncing on his heels, Sakura is standing still with her hands clasped behind her back, and Sasuke’s standing with his arms still crossed. 

“Hmm,” Kakashi hums, “you three actually came.”

Sakura scrunches up her face. “Were we not supposed to?”

“No, you definitely were supposed to.”

“What does that even mean?” Naruto asks, scratching the back of his head. 

“It means nothing but also something.”

By now, Sasuke directs his gaze to Kakashi’s hands. One hand has two bento boxes securely in its grip while the other has two silver bells. 

Sasuke clicks his tongue. “What are those?”

Kakashi lifts his left foot off the ground. “These are shoes, Sasuke. The standard issue ones.”

Sasuke can feel his eye twitching again. Naruto snickers next to him, and Sasuke has half the mind to roundhouse kick his brother right now. Somehow, he doesn’t mind the cough that Sakura did to obviously hide a giggle. 

Sasuke opens his mouth to retort, but Kakashi interrupts him. “Anyways, enough about my shoes. These,” he says, lifting up the hand with the bells in it, “are two silver bells. In other words, these are your tickets for lunch and not to be sent back to the Academy.”

The ever astute Naruto says, “But there are only two bells and three of us.”

“Yes, there are.”

Sasuke pinches the bridge of his nose. At least when he looks at Sakura, the look of horror on her face lets him know that he only has one idiot on his team. 

Kakashi walks over to the monument stone and sets the bento boxes on its steps. By the time he walks back over, he has the bells clasped around his belt and the omnipresent look of boredom still on his face. 

“You have until noon. If you go past the time limit, all _three_ of you are going back to the Academy. Let’s begin.”

Kakashi body flickers away from the logs and towards the open field. 

\---

Naruto gulps and looks at Sasuke and then at Sakura. Sakura has absolute horror on his face while Sasuke looks almost bored.

“So, which one of us is going to fail?” Naruto asks, his voice cracking. 

“None of us, you bonehead.”

Sakura directs her gaze towards Sasuke with confusion. “What do you mean?”

“Did you two even learn anything at the Academy? Genin squads always operate in teams of three. If he’s going to send us back to the Academy, he’ll either send none of us or all of us.”

Sakura gently slaps Sasuke’s arm and says with a fake laugh, “Of course I knew that. I was only testing um… Naruto.” 

“Hey!” Naruto yells, waving his hands in the air. “I realized the same thing. I was only testing _you_.” Naruto realized the fact too… after Sasuke already told him.

Sakura and Sasuke scoff at the same exact time. 

“Well then, how are we going to get the bells?” Sakura asks, leaving the question open in the air. 

“We’ll just grab them. Come on!” 

Ignoring Sasuke’s protests, Naruto pivots on his heels and starts running towards Kakashi at full speed. Putting his fingers into a practiced cross shape, Naruto yells, “Shadow Clone Jutsu,” producing about a dozen clones. 

Kakashi, who by now has pulled out a little book out of seemingly nowhere, lifts a lazy eye to look at Naruto and his clones, seemingly unfazed while he whips out a kunai with his other hand. Like a practiced dance, Kakashi kicks and slashes his clones out of exigence, barely even lifting his eyes up from his book. 

When the real Naruto gets close enough, Kakashi says, “That’s a real nasty habit that you have. Screaming out the name of the jutsu that you’re doing is incredibly stupid. At least say it in a normal voice.” 

Naruto is about to retort when Kakashi suddenly turns around and punches Sasuke, who Naruto didn’t even notice was sneaking up behind Kakashi, right in the gut. Naruto can see and practically feel the way the air gets knocked out of Sasuke as his body arcs from the impact. From behind him, Naruto hears Sakura screech out in surprise. 

“Sensei!” Sakura yells, running towards Sasuke’s body lying on the ground. “Don’t you think that you hit him a little too hard?”

By now, Kakashi has wiped out all of Naruto’s clones, but he can’t get himself to produce anymore. This isn’t the Academy. Hell, it’s not even training with Itachi or Shisui. Naruto can feel Kakashi’s sheer presence weighing him down like lead. The look on Kakashi’s face tells Naruto that he isn’t afraid to send them to the hospital if he needs to. 

By the time Sakura reaches Sasuke, he’s already leaning on his elbow, coughing into his hand. Sasuke sends him one look—one simple, determined look—and Naruto immediately feels invigorated yet again. 

\---

Kakashi shakes his wrist. Okay, maybe he hit the kid a little too hard, but it was only because of muscle memory. It actually kind of spooked Kakashi a little over how close Sasuke got to him without him noticing. And Itachi never mentioned that Naruto knew how to use the Shadow Clone Jutsu; such a fickle jutsu it is. 

Currently, the Naruto kid is standing there doing nothing while Sakura is kneeling over Sasuke, acting like he died or something. Kakashi keeps his eye on the book in his hand, trying to find his happy place. Why did he ever agree to take a genin squad in the first place?

Sure, he could just send them back to the Academy, but then he’ll never hear the end of it from Itachi. Natsu, Asuma, and Kurenai will also be in his ear about it since he just knows that they’ll all pass their squads no matter what. Kakashi sighs, his eye running over the same line in his book but not actually reading it. 

Kakashi looks up again and is instantly on high alert when the three kids are nowhere to be found. Huh, and he was just wondering if he should get rid of them. Maybe prayers are answered sometimes. 

Suddenly, 15 or so Narutos pop up out of the ground. Kakashi is ready to easily dissipate them again when one of the Narutos starts weaving hand seals. Kakashi easily jumps out of the way of the huge Fireball Jutsu hurling towards him and smiles to himself when he feels a weight tug on his belt, not bothering to twist his waist out of the way of grabby hands. 

Behind him, he hears a boy snickering and a girl loudly sigh with relief. 

\---

Sasuke clutches his stomach as he dispels the transformation and watches Naruto and a Sakura-transformed-into-a-Naruto-clone grab the bells from Kakashi’s belt. He walks over to the three of them, Sakura immediately dispelling the transformation and putting a hand on his shoulder with concern in her eyes. 

“Hmm,” Kakashi says. “So Naruto and Sakura snatched the bells?”

“Hell yeah we did!” Naruto yells. Sasuke looks over his shoulder to find Sakura smiling through the concern. 

“Okay then, Sasuke you’re going back to the Academy.”

Naruto immediately makes a noise of protest, and Sakura’s grip on his shoulder becomes tighter. Sasuke blinks a couple of times, only seeing deadpan seriousness on Kakashi’s face. His mind freezes, sure that he would pass all of them in this stupid test of his. He can’t be serious right?

“I—” Sasuke starts saying.

“Sensei,” Sakura says, moving to stand in front of Sasuke. “If he has to go back to the Academy, then I will too.”

Naruto moves to stand next to her. “Yeah! Me too! If they go back, then I’ll go back.”

For a few tense moments, Sasuke watches as Kakashi stares down his brother and friend. The two of them don’t yield, standing unmoving like mountains in front of him while he can only look at the back of their heads. Eventually, Sasuke swears that he can see the smile in Kakashi’s eye. 

Kakashi puts a hand on his hip and with his other hand he gives them a big thumbs up while leaning forward. “Good job. All three of you pass. In the shinobi world, those who abandon one’s friends are worse than the scum that break the rules. I’m glad that you three aren’t scum or even worse. Team 7 starts our first official mission tomorrow morning. Meet in front of the Hokage Tower, don’t be late, and pretty yourselves up since we’re taking our official team portrait as well.”

“You’ll be the one that’s late,” Sasuke mutters. 

The moment he body flickers away, Sasuke sees the tension leaving Naruto and Sakura’s shoulders. The two of them turn around and triumphantly hold up their bells at him. Sasuke purses his lips at the bells and activates his Sharingan. Sasuke huffs out a puff of breath and flicks both of the bells with his middle fingers. 

Instead of chiming, the bells poof into sticks. 

“Huh?” Naruto says. 

“Wha—” Sakura says at the same time. 

Sasuke swears that he will curse Kakashi in his dreams. Maybe nightmares. 

\---

Naruto sulks and drags his feet as the three of them walk back to the village proper. He actually believed that he grabbed one of the bells. 

After they’re well within the village, Naruto sees Ino skipping towards them with a smile. She grabs onto his arm and says, “Come on you three, Team 10’s having barbeque, so you might as well join us.” 

“Shouldn’t we go to the hospital first?” Sakura says, clasping her hands together. “Sasuke, you—”

“I’m fine, Sakura. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“But—”

Naruto waves off her worries, trying to make her more at ease. “Don’t worry, Sakura. If he thought something was wrong then he would say so, you know that.”

Sasuke rolls his eyes and starts walking towards the barbeque restaurant with Sakura following closely behind him. 

“What the hell happened to you three?” Ino asks as she drags them towards the restaurant as well, humming a little tune. 

“Oh, we just had some team training, y’know. Some stupid bell thing.” 

Naruto and Ino enter the restaurant to find Shikamaru, Choji, Sasuke, and Sakura sitting around a table. Naruto’s stomach growls at the meat on the sizzling on the grill, realizing that nobody claimed the bento boxes that Kakashi brought with him. 

“Eat as much as you want, guys,” Choji says while inhaling meat. “Just leave me the last piece, okay?” 

Naruto hums as he places a piece of meat on his plate. Sakura and Ino bicker over girl stuff while Choji tries to convince Sasuke to eat more meat instead of disgusting vegetables.

“Are you alright, Naruto?” Shikamaru says through a yawn. “You’re awfully quiet.”

“Yeah, we just had some stupid team test today.”

“You guys too? What did you have to do? Asuma-sensei made us play Kick the Can, and it was such a bother.”

“We had to take away some bells from Kakashi-sensei.”

“It was just as I thought then.”

“What do you mean?”

“Before we came here, we ran into Team 8; apparently, they played hide-and-seek today. Team 9 played keep away. You guys played some version of capture the flag. All of our squads played some variation of a childhood game.” 

“So what does that mean?”

Shikamaru sighs while he stuffs a piece of meat into his mouth. “How did Kakashi-sensei end the test? You didn’t actually grab the bells did you?”

Naruto scratches the back of his neck. “Well, me and Sakura grabbed the ‘bells’ after Sasuke distracted him with a Fireball Jutsu.”

Shikamaru hums. “It’s as I thought then.”

“Come on, Shikamaru, just tell me already. I’m starting to get a headache, y'know.”

“Such a bother,” Shikamaru mutters. “All of the jonin-sensei ended our games after we displayed an act of true, coordinated teamwork. Even if all 12 of us worked together, we probably wouldn’t be able to beat Asuma-sensei in kick the can. Or Kakashi-sensei in capture the flag. Or Kurenai-sensei in hide-and-seek. Or Natsu-sensei in keep away. In other words, they let us win.”

“Really?”

“You didn’t actually think that you could’ve beat him, did you?”

“Um, no.”

Sasuke scoffs from next to him, apparently having been listening into the conversation while talking to Choji. “Knowing you, you totally thought that you and Sakura grabbed the real bells.”

Sakura is quick to come to his defense, thankfully. “You can’t blame us, Sasuke. We don’t have Sharingan like you; they looked totally real.”

“Even if you don’t have the Sharingan, are you sure that you wouldn’t be able to sense it with your forehead?” Ino says while snickering. 

“Oh yeah? And wouldn’t your loud mouth be able to detect it with echolocation?”

“I didn’t even take the test, Billboard Brow!” 

Sparks fly between their eyes as Choji puts up one of his hands. “Come on guys, don’t fight when we have perfectly good meat grilling.”

“Who’s paying anyways?” Sasuke asks as he puts a piece of lettuce in his mouth. Naruto almost gags just looking at the offending green vegetable. 

The six of them look at each other around the table with blank blinks. 

“Choji aren’t you…” Ino says. 

“I thought Shikamaru…” Choji replies. 

“Wait, you guys…” Sakura says. 

More blank stares follow as the six of them look at each other, the meat sizzling between them. Choji reaches his chopsticks to pick up another piece of meat, but Naruto grabs his arm. 

Naruto holds his breath as he enters a staring contest with Choji. The look of sheer contempt in his eyes makes Naruto let go of his grip, allowing Choji to place the piece of meat into his mouth.

“Okay, so—” Naruto starts saying. 

“Absolutely not,” Sasuke interrupts, “we are not dining and dashing. Father will have our heads.”

“It’s not dining and dashing, Sasuke. It’s called leaving now and paying later.”

“Well, I for one would rather not break the law; it’s too much of a bother.”

The six of them collectively sigh, and soon after, Naruto puts his hitai-ate into his pocket and wraps a bandana around his head, accepting the broom that the owner hands him. 

Naruto sweeps at Shikamaru’s legs when he finds him leaning against a wall, snoring slightly. Next to them, Ino mutters about child labor, and Sasuke grimaces at his reflection in the window that he’s wiping squeaky clean. Sakura has a forced smile on her face while she takes somebody’s order, and Choji places a tray of meat on the adjacent table. 

Naruto can’t wait to start making his own money on missions. 

\--- 

Kakashi stands in front of two gravestones and sets the two bento boxes in front of them. He mutters, “Those three just might become what we could’ve been. What we should’ve been.” 

Kakashi quickly wipes at his eye and turns around to stalk out of the cemetery. He imagines Obito and Rin with smiling faces while they eat from their bento boxes.


	3. Picture Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I need to mention something real quick since it’s kind of important if you didn’t read Like Brothers. Obviously, this fic is a canon-divergence, but I think that the real point of divergence in this story is the fact that Orochimaru’s lust for power and knowledge never overrode his loyalty to the village, meaning that he’s not an antagonist in this story and is an important member of village leadership. I’m just gonna say it right now, don’t expect Orochimaru to just randomly grab Sasuke and make a run for it lol. Okay, I said my piece, enjoy!

> The Hidden Leaf officially has a new Hokage: the Fifth Hokage, Uchiha Fugaku. After vast speculation that the current Jonin Commander, Lord Orochimaru, or the current acting and Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, may take or reassume the position of Hokage, Uchiha Fugaku’s sudden rise to the job surely has stunned many. It has been an unprecedented year for the village leadership after recently coming out victorious in the Third War; the Fourth devastatingly passed away in such an unfortunate event, the Third briefly reassumed the mantle, and the Fifth has just been named to lead the new era that many hoped the Fourth would lead. 
> 
> Unlike the Fourth, who was wet-behind-the-ears when he first took the job, Uchiha Fugaku, 33, has a breadth of experience as the head of the Uchiha Clan and Chief of the Leaf Police Force. It’s also interestingly the first time that an Uchiha, a founding clan of the Leaf, has taken upon the hat since Mad Madara abandoned the village and died in obscurity after losing the Hokage mantle to Senju Tobirama, the Second Hokage, in a bruising political fight to be the First’s successor. History has not repeated itself, however, because Uchiha Fugaku enjoyed a wide range of support during the Jonin Assembly, easily passing the Jonin Vote of Approval, in no small part to the Third’s heartfelt endorsement (read the transcript on page 13).
> 
> Although he’s already taken the oath of office from the Daimyo, his public inauguration will occur this Saturday, and his stone face will be carved within the coming weeks.  
>  —“The Year of the Three Hokages”, a newspaper article from after the Nine-Tails’s Attack

\---

Sakura makes sure to smooth out her dress and practice her smile before leaving her room in the morning. At the dining room table, her dad is reading the newspaper and Sai is intently working on a drawing, his hand moving so fast that Sakura doesn’t catch what he’s drawing. 

Her dad peers over the newspaper and grins. “Good morning, Sakura. What do you call two ninja?”

Sakura puts a hand on her hip and sighs. “I don’t know. What?”

“A pair of sneakers!” Her dad slaps his knee while laughing while Sai lets out an amused chuckle. 

“Hooooney,” her mom calls out from the kitchen, “Sakura’s getting too old for your jokes.”

“I’m sorry, Sakura. I just couldn’t resist.”

“It’s fine, Dad.” 

Sakura moves to sit at the dining table, taking a bite out of a piece of toast without bothering to put any butter on it. With her other hand, she runs her fingers through her hair, making sure to smooth out any knots. 

Her mom walks into the room and smiles, saying, “Look at us, four genin. Oh, I’m so proud of you two.”

Sakura’s eye twitches a little at hearing the words “four genin”. The fact that she’s the same rank as her parents doesn’t elude her while most of her friends’ parents are all jonin. It’s almost… embarrassing that her parents do petty missions while her friends’ parents do missions crucial to the survival of the village. 

Her mom walks behind Sakura and starts pinching her cheeks to her protests. After, she walks behind Sai and puts a hand on his shoulder. Sakura watches as Sai stills for a moment before promptly relaxing after he looks up and sees their mom’s smiling face. 

“Well you two,” her dad says, putting down his newspaper and chugging down the rest of his coffee, “make sure that you lock up before you leave. Your mom and I have a mission to get to.”

Sakura nods her head, but internally thinks about how her parents will just go save some stray cat or something instead of the important missions that her classmates’ parents go on. She hears the front door shut and looks over to what Sai’s doing. Sakura smiles when Sai slides her a drawing of a cherry blossom tree, albeit with a straight face. 

“Come on, Sai. Let’s go get our pictures taken.”

\---

Hinata waves to Sakura when she calls her name and politely greets Sai as well. “Good m-morning, Sakura. Sai.”

“Good morning, Hinata,” Sakura replies in a singsong voice, and the three of them start walking towards the Hokage Tower to take their official team portraits and formally receive their first mission from the Hokage himself. Hinata’s doubly nervous at having to formally meet with the Hokage: one because he looks really scary and two because he’s Naruto and Sasuke’s dad.

Hinata met the man when she was younger but hasn’t in recent memory. She vaguely remembers his stern face and hard eyes. But even through his rough features, she swears that she felt the fable “Will of Fire” burning from him like a hearth to a home. Growing up as the Hyuga heir, she’s always been told to be friendly with the Uchiha, but to be wary of them as well. Even so, she trusts Sasuke and the pseudo-Uchiha Naruto with her life, just as she hopes they trust theirs to her. But she probably isn’t even strong enough to protect them in the first place. 

“—ta? Hinata?” Sakura says, waving a hand in front of her face.

“I’m sorry! Were you saying something?”

Sakura glances in her direction before saying, “Yeah, I was just asking about how your book was coming along. Has the heroine met a charming, blond romantic interest yet?”

Hinata can feel her cheeks blush at the implication. She’s been working on writing a novel recently, but she doesn’t know how she feels about it honestly. To her, the written word is liberating. Freeing. If not for her need to become a ninja and eventual Head of the Hyuga Clan, she would definitely live in the world of the written and strive to become an author. But duty’s grasp hasn’t yielded its hold yet. 

To her right, Sai hums and says, “If you want, I can draw some of the scenes? Or I can help design the cover.”

“Thank you, but it’s really n-not that big of a deal. I still n-need to edit it anyways.” 

Sakura wiggles her eyebrows. “Maybe you can get Naruto to help edit it.” When Hinata turns her head in the opposite direction and tugs on her hoodie string, Sakura laughs and continues saying, “But seriously, maybe Sasuke can help edit it? He would never admit it, but he’s such a bookworm. I think that he’s read everything at the Academy library.” 

“I am _not_ a bookworm,” a voice says from behind them. “It’s just called being not stupid.”

Hinata turns her head, and sees Sasuke and Naruto trailing the three of them. Sasuke purses his lips with his hands stuffed in his shorts pocket while Naruto yawns into his hand, looking like he’s sleepwalking with his eyes barely open.

Sakura rolls her eyes next to her, also turning her head to look at the pair. “Yeah, yeah. That’s what you always say.”

Sasuke actually growls from low in his throat but doesn’t respond since they’ve made it to the front of the Hokage Tower and meet up with the rest of their classmates. 

The twelve of them wait around until eventually they see their four jonin instructors walking towards them from the distance. When Kurenai’s kind eyes meet hers, Hinata smiles back at her new teacher, not missing the way her shoulders sometimes brush with Asuma’s. Hinata glances to the side at Naruto, who’s almost giggling to himself, and suppresses a sigh. There’s no way Naruto would ever want to be with her when they’re older. But just hearing him laugh like that is enough, she supposes. Or rather, she tells herself that it’s enough.

Maybe if she writes a book about it, then it will be enough.

\---

Naruto can’t help it; he actually lets out a chuckle at the way Natsu is physically dragging Kakashi towards them. By the time that they’re within hearing distance, Kakashi fidgets out of the blond's grasp and glares at him while Natsu just shrugs it off and walks towards his own team.

“Sorry that I’m not late. I'm afraid that the path of life forcibly dragged me here.”

“Whatever,” Sasuke scoffs, and Naruto kicks his shin while Sakura bonks him on the back of his head. 

“Well apparently,” Kakashi says, completely ignoring them, “Mr. Genzo hurt his back, so we’re having our portrait taken at his studio instead of outside since he can’t move his equipment. So, come on you three. As Team 7, we’re first.”

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura follow their teacher with his lazy gait while the other three teams trail behind them. Eventually, they make it to a quaint little studio, just a hole-in-the-wall really. Naruto steps inside and immediately looks around at all of the portraits on the walls. Team portraits and individual portraits alike adorn the walls of the little studio. Faces that are smiling, frowning, and thin-lipped are all over the place, leaving more photos than wall. 

As they walk further in and the other teams wait outside, a balding head pops up out of nowhere and scoffs, “Oh, it’s you with your damn mask, Kakashi. And here I was hoping that I would never see you again.”

“Yes, yes. Nice to see you too, Mr. Genzo. Let’s just get this over with. And I _am_ wearing my mask.”

“Whatever. Anything to get you to leave quicker.”

Just as Kakashi puts a hand on his shoulder to guide him into place, Naruto’s eyes catch something: one of the portraits has a familiar looking blond man and a familiar looking silver-haired boy with a mask on. But before he can get a good look, Kakashi’s heavy hand is on top of his head and the Genzo man is telling him to smile, although rather unenthusiastically. A quick flash of light, and it’s already over. 

But before Kakashi can guide them out of the store, Naruto rushes back to the familiar-looking portrait, his team chasing after him. With a closer look, Naruto sees his dad, his birth dad, in a similar position that Kakashi just was with them: his hands on top of two boys’ heads with a girl directly in front of him. 

Naruto looks over his shoulder to see Kakashi’s eye glazed over just like the other day. And Naruto also realizes that one of the boys in the picture looks suspiciously like Kakashi. 

“Kakashi-sensei, do you know my da—”

“Anyways, let’s get back to the Hokage Tower. Let’s not have the Lord Hokage waiting on us.”

Without another word, Kakashi stalks out of the studio, leaving Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura hurrying after him while also sharing knowing glances with each other, none of them mentioning how weird it is for him to want to be on time. Oh well, at least Naruto gets to see his other dad now. 

\---

Sasuke’s feet feel like lead on the walk back to the Hokage’s Tower. When he woke up this morning, his dad was nowhere to be found, having apparently already left for work. But Sasuke doesn’t even care. It’s not like his father cares about him either. 

Before he even knows it, he’s right in front of the Mission Assignment Room with Kakashi’s droopy eye watching him as the man twists the door knob open. Sasuke crosses his arms and turns his head in order to break eye contact with his teacher, and he swears that he hears a soft sigh come through the fabric of the mask. But he has no time to think about it as his feet drag his unwilling body to the center of the room. 

Sitting in the middle of a row of tables is his father, although Sasuke does a double take when he sees him. As usual, he has his haori over his flak jacket, but he’s also wearing the official Hokage hat, something that Sasuke rarely if ever sees him donning. His stress lines are as prominent as ever, as is his almost scowl. 

To his father’s direct right is Orochimaru, the Jonin Commander and his father’s right hand man. He has a hitai-ate wrapped around his forehead and a snake-patterned trench coat over his flak jacket. Sasuke can feel the man’s slanted-eyes staring at him, making him involuntarily shiver and fidget with his arm guards. 

There’s more people in the room, but Sasuke honestly doesn’t know them or care about them. When his father starts talking, Sasuke automatically stands up straighter and uncrosses his arms, silently scolding himself at the involuntary actions.

“Team 7,” his father starts saying while looking down at a clipboard, “your mission is to locate and capture several lost cats from the residential district. It is a D-rank mission and—”

“Come on, Dad. Our first mission is to capture cats? Really?”

Just as Sasuke is about to sweep a foot at Naruto’s shins, and Kakashi has a hand raised behind Naruto’s head, their father politely puts a hand up, stopping them from connecting with Naruto’s body. 

“Do you think that you can handle anything more than that, Naruto?”

“Of course we can! I’m supposed to become Hokage after all.”

“I’m so sorry, Lord Hokage,” Kakashi says, bowing his body with his hands to his sides. “Of course Team 7 will accept the perfectly acceptable D-rank mission.” And he shoots Naruto a quick look. 

“Hold on now, Kakashi,” his father says. “Orochimaru, don’t we have a C-rank mission that needs to be done before the week’s end.”

“Well, Lord Hokage,” Orochimaru says while peering down at his own clipboard, “as a matter of fact we do. A C-rank mission to deliver medicine to the Hidden Grass Village.”

“Kakashi, do you think that your team is ready to accept a mission out of the village?”

Kakashi looks at them with his single visible eye, and even though he has a mask on, Sasuke is pretty certain that he’s not smiling. Sasuke expects him to say a hard “no”, so he stuffs his hands into his pockets, resigning himself to a day of capturing little lost kittens (and Sasuke definitely isn’t super excited to spend a day with the cutest animals on the planet. Definitely not). 

“Actually, Lord Hokage, I think that they are ready. And if anything goes wrong, I’ll be there with them of course.”

Sasuke’s mouth gapes open on its own, as does Sakura’s. Naruto actually jumps in place out of excitement, punching the air. 

“Kakashi-senpai,” says a man standing behind his father, also with a clipboard, that Sasuke doesn’t recognize, “are you sure? They’ve only just become genin.”

“It will be fine, Tenzo. Of course, we will only go on the C-rank mission if the Lord Hokage allows it.” 

Sasuke sees his father cross his arms and lean back in his chair, closely watching the four of them. Sasuke feels the man’s hard eyes staring into his very soul, and it’s just as unnerving as all of the other times his father’s scrutinized him. Only this time, the weight of the Hokage’s hat adds to the unnerving feeling. 

“It was I that mentioned it after all,” his father simply says. Orochimaru unclips a piece of paper from his clipboard, signs it and hands it to his father. He stamps it, signs it, and promptly hands it off to Kakashi. 

As the four of them turn to leave, their father calls out one last thing to them. “Naruto, Sasuke. I’ll tell your mother and Itachi that you’ll be out for a few days. Good luck.”


	4. Mission Start! To the Hidden Grass

> Once upon a time, there was a woman, Kaguya, who loved her nation with all her might. She fell in love with the land’s emperor, and they eventually married and had two, twin sons. One day, a rival nation infiltrated the royal castle, where the emperor was killed, but Kaguya and her infant sons managed to escape. Kaguya, with a twin in each arm, ran as hard as she could, but the enemy forces did not stop their pursuit. 
> 
> Eventually, Kaguya and her sons were trapped under the God Tree by the enemy forces. As the three of them cowered in fear, a branch from the tree fell in front of them with a mysterious fruit attached. In a last ditch effort to protect her two sons, Kaguya reached out, grabbed the fruit, and devoured it whole. Power surged all throughout her body, and she was able to protect her twin boys from the enemy forces.
> 
> Kaguya reigned as a loving empress in her deceased husband’s stead. But, the very tree that granted her strength soon grew berserk. Nine branches fell from the tree and morphed into grand beasts. In order to help quell the beasts, Kaguya gave her two, now teenage, sons a fraction of her power called chakra. The three of them calmed the nine beasts, giving each a distinctive name and number of tails, but then, the trunk of the God Tree soon shook with life. 
> 
> Bigger and more powerful than each of the Tailed Beasts, Kaguya saw no other option than to seal it and send it away from the earth. She asked the Tailed Beasts for their help, but their strength wasn’t enough. Her sons started to help, but their strength wasn’t enough. Kaguya started to help, but their combined strength still wasn’t enough. So, Kaguya channeled every last bit of strength that she could muster, and then, their strength was finally enough to seal the beast into a sphere of stone and catapult it into the sky, into what is now known as the moon.
> 
> Kaguya, however, laid weak on the ground as the Tailed Beasts and her twin sons surrounded her. She uttered 3 last words with her dying breath: “I love you”. 
> 
> After, the Tailed Beasts were free to roam the lands and the twins returned to their castle. But, when the twin’s returned to their nation, there was only one crown but two heads. That, however, is a story for another day.  
>  —“Princess Kaguya”, a legend about the origin of chakra, the Tailed Beasts, and the moon 

\---

After leaving the Mission Assignment room, Kakashi tells Sakura to go home and write a note to her family and tells Sasuke and Naruto to go back to their home to pick up their travel bags. Walking back to the Uchiha Compound, Sasuke admittedly pouts a little while Naruto swings his arms in big semicircles, seeming as content as ever. 

Nearing their front door, Sasuke unlocks it, letting Naruto in before him. As soon as he takes a step through the threshold, Sasuke is immediately on high alert at the sound of clothes rustling, and apparently, so is Naruto. The two of them tiptoe their way towards the source of the rustling, ever so careful to be as quiet as a mouse and not make a sound. 

As soon as Naruto gets to the living room, Naruto yelps and is quick to cover his eyes. Not long after, Sasuke peers over the blond’s shoulder and quickly averts his eyes from what he sees. 

Sasuke tries everything in his power to vanish the split-second memory, but to no avail. The sight is singed into his corneas, and he hears a girlish yelp coming from the living room. At this point, Naruto is cowering behind him, gently pushing him to be the first one to walk into the living room. Sasuke sighs and takes the fated steps forward, not allowing the awkward moment to delay them any further. 

As soon as he walks in (with Naruto still behind him, gripping his shoulders), Itachi clears his throat while Utano, his girlfriend, is quick to hide her face in the crook of his neck. 

“Naruto. Sasuke. I thought that you were on a mission,” Itachi calmly says, averting any eye contact. 

“Yes, we are. We’re just here to pick up our travel bags. Our mission’s away from the village.”

At this point, Utano peeks her head out to look up at them. Her face is still crimson red, but she gives them a small wave and smile. Behind him, Naruto gives a timid wave as well, his face blushing in embarrassment. 

“Well, you should probably get going then, you wouldn’t want to keep Captain Kakashi waiting.” 

“Of course, Itach'.”

And the moment that they are out of the living room, Naruto drags him to his room, clearly still flustered about the situation. 

“Sasuke,” Naruto loudly whispers, “wasn’t that gross? That was gross, right?”

Sasuke tsks, and even though he secretly agrees, he says, “What are you talking about? They’re dating, of course they would be… friendly with each other.”

“They were making out on the couch! She was like on his lap and everything!” 

“Whatever. We need to pack, so let’s just stop talking about this okay?”

As soon as he turns around, Naruto quickly grabs his arm, but lets go of it just as quickly, looking unusually hesitant. He looks down to fiddle with his thumbs a little, making Sasuke tap his foot in slight annoyance and bark, “What?”

“Doyoulikeanybody?” 

Sasuke scrunches up his face. “Speak English, you bonehead.”

“Do you have… like anybody that you super-duper care for?”

Sasuke is taken aback by the question and Naruto’s uncharacteristic nervousness. “Of course. I care about me, myself, and I.”

Sasuke, however, fails to mention that he cares about their mom, Itachi, and, loath as he is to admit it, Naruto (maybe even somewhere deep within his soul, he cares about their father). He cares about Sakura, Hinata, and Sai. He even has a sort of classmate camaraderie with Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, Kiba, Shino, Kitaro, and Eri. But, he fails to see how the question is even relevant in the first place. 

“If that’s it, I need to go pack. Be at the front door in five minutes.”

“Yessir,” Naruto says while giving him a mock salute. 

Sasuke sighs after he finally returns to his own room and closes the door behind him. Of course he likes somebody; he’s almost a teenager after all. But why Naruto is asking of all people, is beyond him.

\---

Naruto slams open his closet door and grabs an extra pair of clothes while his mind runs overtime. 

It’s not weird. Of course it’s not weird. They’re openly dating, what did he expect? But, Naruto can’t help but to just think about it. Really think about it. He never thought about dating before. Whenever Ino made jokes about it, Naruto always took it in stride. But why is he even thinking about it now? He has a mission to think about for ramen’s sake!

Naruto makes sure to grab an extra jacket and stuff it in his bag before promptly moving out to make Sasuke’s deadline. Back in the living room, Naruto waves bye to Itachi and Utano, not even letting his eyes linger on the way that they just seem… so content to be in each others’ company. Naruto lightly slaps his cheek to make the thought go away before getting into Sasuke’s point of view. Now, is _not_ the time to be having those thoughts. 

Naruto silently curses Itachi and his irresponsible make-out session as he and Sasuke make their way to the Hidden Leaf Hospital. In front of the hospital, Sakura is already waiting for them, busy looking at some roses in the flower bed. Naruto doesn’t miss the way that Sasuke moves to stand right next to her with his hands stuffed into his shorts pockets, unusually close considering that it’s Sasuke after all. Has Sasuke always done that with Sakura?

Suddenly, Kakashi body flickers next to him, his lazy eye flicking back and forth between Naruto and the “S” pair. Kakashi blinks once and simply hums through his mask, walking towards the hospital entrance. Naruto watches his waning figure for a moment before running after his teacher, catching up to him right after he appears to be finished signing something. 

Kakashi pivots his body to face him and puts a hand on his hip. 

“What?” Naruto asks, his voice cracking slightly. 

“Oh, nothing. You’ll understand when you’re older. Love is such a complicated subject after all.”

“L-Love? What does love have anything to do with anything?”

At this point, Kakashi’s eye glazes over and he seemingly zones out. Eventually, however, still with his eye glazed, Kakashi asks, “Hey Naruto, you don’t like Sakura do you?”

“I-I mean, like as a friend I do?”

“But only as a friend?”

“Y-Yeah.”

“Good. I don’t do love triangles.”

Kakashi’s glazed over eye is washed away as a group of nurses walk towards them, each carrying a wooden apothecary box.

“Go grab Sasuke and Sakura. Looks like we’ll each need to hold one.”

Naruto nods his head, happy to get out of _that_ conversation, and goes back to the front of the hospital to grab Sasuke and Sakura. The moment that he’s about to call their names, Sasuke lifts a hand up and runs it through Sakura’s long hair. The words die in his throat. 

Luckily, the two of them start walking towards the hospital entrance anyways, allowing Naruto to simply wave them towards him. When they reach Kakashi, the four medicine boxes are on the counter, so Kakashi grabs one and waves for them to take the rest. Like a group of students holding their lunch boxes, the four of them make their way to the village gates, Naruto making sure to stop swinging his box after he hears the precarious clinking of glass from within.

\---

With one step, the four of them are officially out of the village and are officially on their first mission as Team 7… and their first mission is walting about to another village carrying lunch boxes like some school kids instead of trying to locate and capture the cutest creatures on the planet. Great. Just Great.

The four of them follow the road in comfortable silence for a bit—even though Sasuke swears that he can hear Kakashi quietly humming a tune—until Sakura sidles up next to him, slowing her pace to lag behind Kakashi and Naruto. And of course, Sasuke matches her pace. 

“Hey, Sasuke, do you remember what we were talking about before the bell thing?” 

Sasuke hums in confirmation, but doesn’t respond verbally. 

“Have you thought about your answer yet?”

Sasuke thinks back to the question: “Why are we even ninja?” Then he thinks about just a few hours prior to his conversation with Naruto. 

“We are ninja,” he says lowly, making sure Naruto and Kakashi can’t hear him, “to protect those that we love.”

“But isn’t your mom already a ninja? Both of your brothers too. Your dad is even the Hokage. Who are you protecting?”

Sasuke pivots his face to look directly into her bright green eyes. “You,” he faintly whispers.

But to his surprise, instead of being met with adoration, he’s met with almost anger. Okay, this was not in the romance books that he’s read. Immediately he feels boyish embarrassment settle in after realizing what he just said, blaming his older brother for indirectly placing these stupid thoughts in his head. 

“Am I not strong enough to protect myself? Tell me, Sasuke. Why am _I_ a ninja then?” 

“You’re a ninja because… because—”

“Excuse me,” a voice interrupts him from behind. 

Sasuke whips around his head to look behind him and finds a man and a woman, the man holding a hand up in greetings. The two of them are in simple clothes, have simple haircuts, and have simple satchels hanging to their sides. Sasuke has half the mind to activate his Sharingan, but he simply clicks his tongue when he feels a hand on his shoulder. 

“Can we help you?” Kakashi asks, delicately raising an eyebrow. 

“Err, yeah,” the man says, rubbing the back of his neck. “We were just wonderin’ if you folk were headin’ to the Hidden Grass Village as well?” 

“And who’s asking?”

“Hello, I’m Mitsuko and this is my husband Hachiro,” the woman says. “We are trying to immigrate to the Hidden Grass, but we’re awfully weary of the dangers of the road. We were wondering if you would be willing to travel together? You do seem like awfully capable ninja after all.”

“Of course we’re capable!” Naruto says, grinning from cheek to cheek. “I don’t see why not, right Kakashi-sensei?”

Kakashi turns his head to look at Naruto, blinking slowly, and Sasuke can feel the grip on his shoulder tighten slightly. 

Kakashi heaves out a sigh, “Well, we are going to the same place after all. It would probably be for the best.”

While Naruto and Sakura go up to chat with their new travel companions, Kakashi leans into his ear and whispers, “Be on guard.”

\---

“Hello, I’m Uzumaki Naruto!”

“And I’m Haruno Sakura.”

“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you two. And what’s your name?” Mitsuko asks Sasuke when he joins them as well. 

“The name’s Sasuke.”

The six of them continue walking down the road towards the Hidden Grass with Kakashi leading them; followed by Mitsuko and Sakura behind him, giggling about whatever girls talk about; followed by Naruto and Hachiro behind them; and Sasuke bringing up the rear. 

“You know,” Hachiro says after a couple minutes of silence. “I’m actually the eighth son out of nine children.” 

Naruto feels his eyes widen. “Really?!”

He can’t even imagine what it’s like being an only child, but he’s never even thought about what it would be like having eight siblings. 

“Yup. That’s why we’re headin’ to the Hidden Grass, to get a new start, ya know?”

“Yeah, I know,” Naruto says without really thinking about it. “Wait… actually I don’t know. I’ve never thought about leaving the Leaf before, y’know?” Naruto finishes, tapping the symbol on his headband. 

The Hidden Leaf is his birthplace, his village, and his home. He would never want to live anywhere else. The Leaf is where his family lives, his friends live, and has everybody that he wants to protect. 

Hachiro lets out a laugh. “Yup, I know that feelin’ too. Honestly, it was a really hard decision to decide to leave, but it’s for the best. For our future, ya know?”

Hachiro’s gaze then drifts over to his wife, a coy smile pulling at his lips. Naruto grins at the man’s grin, really glad to have met their new travel companions. Naruto always enjoys talking to people, probably more than Itachi and Sasuke combined. Sasuke always yells at him to read a book or something, but he much prefers to talk to others and learn things from actual people. Books are always so utterly boring while people are dynamic; Naruto can always try to steer the conversation to something more interesting. 

Behind them, Naruto hears a scoff that he knows all too well. “You two are giving me a headache. If I hear one more ‘know’, I will rip my ears out.”

Hachiro lets out another laugh, slowing down his pace and swinging an arm around Sasuke’s shoulders. Sasuke stills for just a second—Naruto only notices because they’ve known each other for so long—but relaxes his body just as quickly before fidgeting out of Hachiro’s grasp.

In front of them, Mitsuko apparently dragged Kakashi into the gossip because she keeps prodding him in the arm while Sakura giggles, covering her mouth with her free hand. Naruto continues chatting with Hachiro, continuously being fascinated as he learns just how different their lives are. 

The six of them walk in the direction of the Hidden Grass Village until eventually, the sun is sinking lower into the sky and they need to set up camp because of the lack of any villages nearby. Hachiro and Mitsuko set up a little ways away, wanting “privacy” or whatever, but the only thing on Naruto’s mind is the food that Kakashi’s cooking in the campfire. The aroma alone is enough to make his mouth salivate, and he finds himself staring at it until Sakura lightly slaps him on the back of his head. 

“This is supposed to feed all four of us. I swear, Naruto, if you—” 

“I know. I know. I won’t eat all of it,” Naruto relents. 

Kakashi looks up at the two of them while he stirs the pot, putting his free hand under his chin and rubbing at his mask-covered chin. Sasuke is already lying down on his bedroll, nose stuck in a book, facing away from them, but Naruto notices the occasional glances he shoots behind him. 

“Okay,” Kakashi says, setting the ladle back into the pot and standing up. “Guy and Natsu told me that I needed to be a teacher or whatever, so lesson two,” he then flashes them two fingers with his other hand resting on his hip, “is starting now!” 

Naruto excitedly bounces on his heel, but he’s also having an internal dilemma: He really wants to learn whatever Kakashi’s about to teach them, but he also really wants to eat. As if on cue, his stomach violently growls, causing Sakura to make a face of horror.

“What’s in there? A beast?” Sakura jokes, causing Sasuke to grunt and Naruto to rub the back of his neck. 

“I would classify Naruto’s stomach as beast-like.”

“As I was saying,” Kakashi says, totally ignoring them, “I’m going to go over another fundamental skill before eating dinner.” 

“Come on, Kakashi-sensei,” Naruto complains, clutching his stomach, “can’t we eat first?” 

Kakashi looks at him, completely unimpressed, and bluntly says, “No.”

At this point, Sasuke stuffs his book back into his bag, stretches his arms a little, and gets up to stand next to Sakura, something that Naruto pointedly notices. Without turning around, Kakashi swiftly pulls three kunai out of his tool pouch and chucks them high up three different trees, the sound of metal hitting wood sounding all throughout their little campsite. 

“Those,” he says, pointing up at the three kunai, “are your dinner tickets. And before you even think about it, no, you are not allowed to use any jutsu.”

Sakura looks absolutely astonished, her gaze not leaving the three kunai that are basically at the very tops of the trees. 

Kakashi shrugs and turns around to sit back down at the campfire, resuming in his duty of mixing the pot. 

Naruto blinks up at one of the kunai, Sasuke and Sakura doing much the same. Naruto lamely kicks at his tree, watching as neither the tree nor the kunai budge an inch. None of the trees have any footholds or branches to climb, making Naruto scratch his head in frustration. If he could use his Shadow Clones, this task would easily be a piece of cake. No, it would be a pork slice of ramen. 

Next to him, Sakura is still looking up at her kunai with her head tilted while Sasuke is straight up glaring at his. Naruto turns his head behind him, causing his eyes to widen slightly because he almost catches a glimpse of Kakashi’s maskless face; however, he only caught the end of Kakashi pulling up his mask. 

Naruto’s eyes widen even wider when he realizes that Kakashi’s already eating and just watching them like some theater production! Naruto’s stomach growls at the thought of the food, so he leans his head forward to rest on the trunk of the tree. 

Next to him, Naruto hears rustling, and tilts his head to look in Sasuke’s direction. Sasuke’s stopped staring at his kunai, and is instead scrummaging at the ground for something. Naruto looks at Sakura, but she just shrugs, apparently just as confused as he is. Eventually, Sasuke finds what he’s looking for, picks it up, and chucks it at the kunai with the assistance of his Sharingan. 

Naruto watches as the rock flies towards the kunai before promptly being knocked out of trajectory by another flying stone. Sasuke whips around to look at Kakashi, but their teacher simply looks back with an unimpressed look and says, “No.” 

“But it’s not a jutsu,” Sasuke argues. 

Kakashi sighs and responds, “You three do know that you are shinobi right? Now hurry up, porridge tastes better right off the heat.”

“What does being a shinobi have anything to do with it?” Naruto mutters, leaning his forehead back against the trunk of the tree. 

The three of them spend another 15 minutes of stomach growling, longingly looking up at the kunai, and glaring at the kunai. It’s a long enough period of time to apparently cause Sasuke to drop his glare and pull Sakura towards Naruto in order to get into a group huddle. 

“Well, do you guys have any ideas?” Sasuke irately asks.

“What if we just like… climb the tree?” Sakura suggests.

“But there’s no footholds or anything to grab onto,” Naruto says, running a hand down his face. 

“Why don’t we just grab onto the trunk?”

“How would we—”

And then, the three of them look up at each other like they’re the biggest group of idiots on the planet. Simultaneously, all three of them yell, “Chakra!”

Naruto feels giddy, having finally found the answer that they were looking for before realizing one very important point. “Now, how the hell do we use chakra to climb the tree?”

“We have to concentrate chakra at our soles or something,” Sasuke says tiredly before his stomach growls and he embarrassedly looks to the side. “I don’t know though. I've never done it before.” 

“Well, let’s just like try it and see who does the best at it,” Sakura suggests.

The three of them go back to their own trees, and Naruto tries with all of his might to concentrate as much chakra as he can at the bottom of his foot. He looks to his right and sees Sasuke and Sakura, and all three of them give each other resolute nods before raising one of their feet to the trunk of their respective trees. 

Naruto is amazed when it feels like his foot is actually sticking to the trunk like gum would. He looks to his side and grins when it looks like Sasuke and Sakura feel the same thing. Holding his breath as he lifts his other foot to the trunk. It’s almost nauseating as he attempts to walk up the tree horizontally, but he has nothing to vomit on an empty stomach. 

He’s about a third of the way up as he hears a squawk and looks to his side to see Sasuke falling back to the ground. And he’s about half way up when he hears a scream and sees Sakura falling to the ground. Finally, he’s about two thirds of the way up when he himself feels his chakra loosen and he finds himself lying on the ground, thanking the cushion of leaves and soil for breaking his fall. 

Naruto sits up and rubs the back of his neck to see Sakura and Sasuke resignedly sitting up against the trunks of their respective trees, also rubbing their necks and backs. Naruto scurries off of the ground and moves to sit between the two of them. 

“Come on guys, we need to try again.” 

“I’m starting to think,” Sasuke says while rolling his neck, “that maybe dinner isn’t worth it.”

“Come on, Sasuke,” Sakura chides, “let’s try one more time.”

“But this time,” Naruto says, “let’s try it with running starts, y’know. I think Itach' or Shisui said something about momentum or something, but I only vaguely remember.”

“Fine.”

The three of them dejectedly get up from the ground and walk a little ways away from their respective trees. They ready their stances, and at the end of Sasuke’s count of three, Naruto bolts towards his tree, readying his chakra at the bottom of his sole right before hitting the junction between horizontal and vertical, and he uses every ounce of sheer will to run up the tree, grab the kunai, throw it to the ground where he hears a soft thud, and run back down. 

He’s about to yell a victory cry when he looks to his side and sees Sakura on her knees halfway down her runway and sees Sasuke at the base of his tree, leaning against the trunk. They didn’t even make it to the tree! 

\---

Sasuke wants to die to put it bluntly. He’s never been this hungry in his entire life, and it doesn’t help that the idiot Naruto is the first one to grab his kunai. Sasuke, moving with the strength of sheer will power alone, gets up and moves to sit across from Sakura on the ground, leaning back on his arms. 

Naruto walks towards them, triumphantly holding a bowl of porridge, and squats down next to them, grinning from cheek to cheek.

“How about this,” Naruto says, waving the bowl of porridge around, “I’ll give Sasuke my bowl so that he can eat. Then he’ll climb his tree, grab the kunai, and give Sakura his bowl so she can eat. Then she can grab her kunai so that I can eat, y’know.”

Sasuke scoffs at the plan and says, “Give Sakura your bowl. I can get mine without any help.”

Naruto opens his mouth to say something, but Sakura beats him to the punch. “Are you saying that you don’t need any help while I do? Don’t treat me like some fragile, little girl, Sasuke. I can get mine without any help either.”

“That wasn’t what I—you know what? Whatever.”

Sasuke cringes as he gets up from his sitting position, wishing that anything, literally anything, would fill the void in his stomach. Too bad that he can’t eat annoyance, otherwise he would probably be as _big-boned_ as Choji. It’s always Naruto. Even if the blond can never, and will never, beat him in a written test, he always gets ahead of him in the more practical side of being a ninja. 

And Sasuke doesn’t even know why Sakura is being so difficult; he just wants to help her damn it. Sakura and Hinata were the reason why his Academy life wasn’t so miserable. Of all of the table partners that he could've had, he’s glad that it was those two. And so what if he’s grown a certain fondness for cherry blossoms? 

Standing at the end of his make-believe runway, he looks to his side and makes eye-contact with Sakura. She looks almost challenging, but he doesn’t even know why. He’s so hungry that it hurts to even think. 

Willing his body, he takes off in a sprint, running and running until he hits the base of the tree and channels as much chakra as he can muster onto his soles so that he can continue his sprint vertically. He makes it nearly two thirds of the way up he thinks before he feels his feet unstick and the now familiar feeling of being in free fall. His back hits the leaves and soil, and he lifts his head slightly to see a kunai being thrown to the ground from Sakura’s tree before promptly closing his eyes for just a little bit. For just a little bit. 

When he comes back to it, Sasuke is looking back up at Sakura’s bright green eyes, which are filled with worry and concern. “Sasuke! Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“Yeah I’m fine, why are you asking?”

“Well, it’s kind of worrying when somebody falls from a tree and immediately closes his eyes. Come on, you need to eat.” 

“What? I need—”

But before he can finish, Sakura grabs him by the arm and drags him back to the campfire where Kakashi and Naruto are sitting. Sakura tosses her kunai towards Kakashi, which he easily catches, and helps herself to grabbing a bowl of porridge. She sits next to him, and to his immediate protest, brings the spoon up to his mouth. She shoves the spoon between his lips anyways, causing Sasuke to sputter slightly before slurping the contents from the spoon to his lips. 

Sakura then swallows a spoonful herself before solemnly saying, “You didn’t eat lunch did you? There’s no way that I would be able to do this before you.” 

Sasuke scoffs. “What are you talking about? You’ve always been better at chakra control than me.” 

“Yeah, Sakura,” Naruto says, probably already on his second or third bowl, “you’ve always been good at this chakra stuff.”

“Oh?” Kakashi says with a raised eyebrow. “Then maybe you can be a genjutsu specialist or even a nature specialist, Sakura. In the Leaf, currently only the Third Hokage and Lord Orochimaru can be considered masters at all five chakra natures. Since you don’t have a clan jutsu, you actually have many options open to you.”

Sakura blushes at the compliments and continues spoon feeding Sasuke to his utter dismay, even though he does absolutely nothing about it. “I haven’t thought about it yet.”

“What about you two? Any interests in specialties or plans for the future?” Kakashi asks, directing his gaze to Sasuke and Naruto. 

“I don’t know yet either,” Sasuke immediately replies. 

“Well, I just want to be Hokage, y’know.”

Kakashi sighs, stretching his arms up over his head. “Well, I guess we can just train on basics and fundamentals for now. The other teams have found their niches and specialties already, but it’s fine. As you can tell, I’m never really in a rush. And Sasuke, if you’re done being fed, I would really like my kunai back please.”

Sasuke grunts as he gets up from his spot next to Sakura and sprints towards his tree, grabs his kunai, and throws it at Kakashi’s feet, which he barely even flinches from while Sakura turns around and glares at him. 

He walks back to the campfire, grabs his bowl, and sits back down next to Sakura, holding the bowl between them so that she can grab some of his porridge with her own spoon. Sasuke promptly chooses to ignore the look on Naruto’s face as he watches them and continues eating his porridge, sometimes colliding his spoon with Sakura’s. 

For some reason, Sasuke is feeling really anxious about their current mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ngl, I had to rewrite some scenes so many times: Who knew that typing words can be so hard? lol. Anyways, I hope that the upcoming "Hidden Grass Arc" I guess is at least half as good as the Wave Arc.


	5. The Road of Life

> Kaguya’s twin boys, Hagoromo and Hamura, both coveted the crown that once belonged to their parents. Blinded by greed, Hamura went against his word of letting the Tailed Beasts roam the land freely, and seized control of the Tailed Beasts that had one to four tails in order to overwhelm his brother with raw might. Hagoromo, however, managed to win control of the Tailed Beasts with five to eight tails and evenly matched his sibling. After fighting for three days straight, the brothers called for a stalemate to instead search for the missing ninth beast. _Whomever is able to control the feisty Nine-Tailed Fox, would be crowned emperor_ , the twins decided. 
> 
> The Nine-Tailed Fox, however, did not appreciate being the medium of their tug-of-war. To evade capture, the Nine-Tails rampaged across the lands, garnering a reputation for being a source of calamity that is distinctively prevalent from its siblings. Eventually, Hagoromo was the one to successfully capture the Nine-Tails and the crown. Hamura relinquished all four of his Tailed-Beasts to his brother, but, to his surprise, Hagoromo gave him the crown after all. 
> 
> Hagoromo learned that his brother was spreading the power of chakra behind his back, so after seeing it’s devastating power, he went on a journey to preach and make sure that chakra is not used for ill-intent again. Hagoromo roamed the land and created nine temples to ensure that the Tailed-Beasts would not be used for ill-intent either. He preached the idea of ninshu and using chakra for love not hate, for peace not war; he eventually earned the name ‘Sage of the Six Paths’ and settled down to have two sons: Indra, the older one and Ashura, the younger one. 
> 
> Not wanting to make the same mistake as his mother, Hagoromo named Ashura as his official successor to lead ninshu. This infuriated Indra and, after Hagoromo’s death, he raised an army against his brother. Indra named his followers ‘shinobi’, and they used chakra in combat while Ashura’s ‘ninja’ tried to resolve the conflict peacefully. 
> 
> Fatefully, after Ashura’s death, the ninja soon grew impatient and started fighting the shinobi back using chakra as well, going against Ashura’s ideal. As time went on, the two sides continuously split into smaller clans, and the words ‘ninja’ and ‘shinobi’ became synonymous.  
>  —the second half of “Princess Kaguya” describing the origin of ninjahood

\---

Naruto begrudgingly forces himself to wake up slightly before the sun comes up and stumbles about the forest for a little until he finds a small clearing. He has half the mind to wake up Sasuke, and maybe even Sakura, but decides against it in favor of having a few minutes to himself. He rubs at his eyes to rub the sleep away and goes through the stretches that Itachi went over with him. 

He wants to be a ninja; well, he is a ninja. That much is concrete, but his plans for the future are as clear as mud. He wants to be Hokage in order to make his Dad proud, both of them actually, but what to do until then? 

And what does Sasuke want to do? As long as he can remember, Naruto has never heard a single goal come out of Sasuke’s mouth. Naruto and Sasuke are like two kindred souls, just wandering around and living until _something_ happens. Naruto felt like his Academy days dragged on and on, days of boring lectures and banal homework assignments never truly ending—until they actually did. 

Shisui’s assured him that it’s okay to live without a purpose, that just simply being alive and breathing is fruitful enough. But Itachi’s told him to always be striving for something. To always be reaching for the stars and moon, never letting the sun blind him. If he can grab even the moon, he can do anything and everything, only limited by the scope of his imagination. That he can create his own ideal world.

When he asked Itachi what his goal was, he replied that he wanted to create true peace in the World of Shinobi. When he asked Shisui what his goal was, he replied that he wanted to see peace in the Shinobi World. Does Naruto want peace as well?

Of course he does, but what can he even do about it right _now_? Peace or whatever seems great and all that, but that’s not something right in front of him. He can’t reach out his hand and grab peace. That’s something for his father to do as Hokage, and when Naruto eventually becomes Hokage, it will be something for him to nurture and maintain. 

After his stretches, he lies down on a bed of leaves, ears satisfied from hearing the crackle underneath him, and puts his right arm over his eyes, spreading his other arm as far as it can go to the side. He feels the morning breeze tickle his tan skin, and almost has to restrain a laugh from it, having completely forgotten his jacket back at camp. 

For some reason, he’s always liked the wind. But at the same time, he’s always been fond of jackets and pants as well. There's a weird dissimilarity between him and his brother-slash-teammate: Sasuke’s pale skin is always exposed to the harsh sun because of his preference for short-sleeves and shorts while Naruto’s tan skin cowers from underneath his black and orange jacket and black pants.

Once upon a time, he asked his mom to buy him a completely orange tracksuit, and he was met with a horrified gasp. “Orange is _not_ an Uchiha color,” she said, physically prying him away from the offending orange. Only after some begging did she relent and allow him to wear a jacket with orange highlights. His mom even jokes sometimes about color coding her kids: orange for Naruto, navy blue for Sasuke, and pure black for Itachi. 

“Are you okay?” a voice asks from next to him, and he immediately jerks his arm from his eyes, squinting against the rising sun at whoever is talking to him. 

Crouching next to him is Mitsuko. She has one hand on her cheek, her head tilted to the side, and her other hand on her knee. Her smile is as bright as the sun and her pupils shine like the moon, even through her otherwise ordinary importance. Naruto supposes that she’s pretty, not that it really matters of course. 

“Um, yeah,” he says, scratching his cheek, now fully conscious about his very defining whiskers. “I’m just thinking, y’know.”

“Hmm. Well, morning is the best time for thinking,” she says while gazing up at the sky. “The morning breeze will blow away troubling thoughts and leave you only with the important things for the day.” 

“Huh,” Naruto says. “Did you think of that yourself, Sis’?”

“It was what my mother once told me. I’m actually here to think about a few things myself. Care to talk about what’s troubling you?”

“Ahh, well, I’m just thinking about the future, y’know.”

“The future? That’s a loaded topic for someone so young. Anything in particular troubling you?”

“Well, I reeeeally wanna be the Hokage, but I don’t know what to do until then. I mean, I’ve always wanted to be a ninja, but now that I am one… I just don’t know, y’know?” 

“Why don’t you just work on how to become the Hokage then?”

“Yeah, well… I don’t know how to do that.”

“The Hokage is the village leader right?” Naruto nods his head, wincing a little when he accidently bangs it on the ground. “Then maybe work on becoming a leader? Somebody that others can look up to.”

“I never thought about that actually,” he says, sitting up and bringing his knees to his chest. Mitsuko reaches out her hand and swipes away at the dirt and leaves on his back with a motherly touch.

Somebody that others look up to? Do people look up to his dad? Now that he thinks about it, whenever his dad walks into a room, all heads turn towards him. Whenever he starts talking, all other voices go silent. Whenever he even looks at somebody, they cower slightly before his piercing eyes. 

“Sometimes we tunnel so hard on things, we need somebody else to widen our point of view,” she tells him with a smile. 

“Wow, you’re really smart, Sis’.”

“Oh, I just read a lot.”

A small smile tugs at his lips. “Sounds like something Sasuke would say. But probably with a lot more insults and scoffing.”

“The moody one? Is he your friend or something?”

Naruto rubs the back of his head, shaking his head. “He’s actually my brother. Adopted, y’know.” 

“Well, that’s nice,” she replies, “Family is still family after all. Are you the adopted one or him?”

“I am actually. If you saw a picture of our family, you’d be able to tell right away. I stick out like a sore thumb.”

“Well,” she says, getting up, “I don’t think that you’re a sore thumb. Our differences are what makes the world continue going round. If we were all the same, the world would be pretty boring, don’t you think?”

Naruto gets up as well, nodding his head. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“I know that we just met, but I believe in you, Naruto. Truly. Big ambitions should yield big results. I had to give up on my dream, but don’t give up on yours. No matter what.”

After a couple wiggles of her finger, Naruto watches her retreating figure, just realizing that he never told her about his dad being the current Hokage, and his other dad being his predecessor. She believes in him, even without knowing the deep tie he has to the post. Huh. 

\---

_She can only pick one. One must live and one must die. Her head aches with the heart wrenching decision, her soul wavers, and her body feels numb. Who will live? Who will—_

Sasuke snaps his book shut, irritation already settling deep within his skin. That was stupid. If he was in her position, he would never allow that situation to happen. _Never_. 

He would find a way to let both live; he wouldn’t even have to choose. Choices are for the weak. If somebody is truly powerful, they will find a way to save anybody and everybody. Sasuke peeks his head out from within his bedroll and sees lumps at Kakashi’s and Sakura’s bedrolls, but not Naruto’s. Sasuke purses his lips, but does nothing about it. Naruto either gets up ungodly early or haphazardly late. The bonehead only ever knows extremes. 

After a couple minutes of nothingness and listening to the tree leaves whistle with the wind, Sasuke crawls out of his bedroll and leans against a nearby tree, puffing a frosty breath out and closing his eyes shut. He brings his knees up against his chest, wraps his arms around them, and fiddles with his arm guards. 

Damn Itachi and damn Kakashi for placing stupid thoughts in his head. Love? Future? Whatever. He needs to focus on the current mission at hand. They need to deliver those stupid boxes to the Hidden Grass then they can go back, receive another mission from his father, and rinse and repeat until their team disbands. Then after that, Sasuke can rinse and repeat the same process alone until he dies. 

“You should relax your face, Sasuke. Scrunching it up like that will give you wrinkles. You’re only eleven, you know.”

Sasuke barely opens his eyes to confirm it, but he already knows that it’s his teacher. Kakashi looks down on him for a moment before sitting on the other side of the same tree that Sasuke’s leaning against, his back thumping against the trunk and his heels digging into some leaves. 

“So how did you get your Sharingan?” Sasuke shoots back, not really expecting an answer, but also wanting a distraction from his troubling thoughts. 

“It was a present from when I officially became a jonin. It was the worst present I’ve ever received.”

“Are you saying that the Sharingan is worthless? I don’t—”

“Yes,” he says in a neutral voice. “It’s worthless compared to the life of one of my friends.”

Sasuke leans over to his side to peek around the tree, but he can’t see Kakashi’s face or expression. All he can see is Kakashi sitting against the tree with his legs outstretched in front of him in a straddle. Now that he has a better view, Sasuke realizes that the man doesn’t even have his vest on yet; it’s strange to just see him wearing the standard black undershirt. 

He looks younger without wearing the authoritative flak jacket only given to experienced shinobi; he looks as immature and youthful as, Sasuke supposes, any other person in their twenties would be. The man sitting on the opposite side of the tree isn’t Sasuke’s commanding ninja instructor: He’s simply a kindred soul trying to find a way to peek into Sasuke’s heart. 

Too bad for him that Sasuke has it under lock and key. 

“I’m sorry,” Sasuke says, his voice cracking slightly, against his better wishes. “I didn’t know.”

Sasuke obviously knows that death is a part of the job, but this is presumably a relative of his that they’re talking about. Even if he couldn’t care less about the name, an Uchiha is still family. And family is still family. 

“Of course you didn’t. I haven’t told you until now.”

“Then why tell me now?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I’m not a morning person and you caught me off guard, or maybe I don't want the other two to hear.” 

“Kakashi-sensei, why are you a ninja?”

For a couple of minutes, Sasuke is met with radio silence, so he loses any hope of expecting an answer. Only when Kakashi starts talking so softly that Sasuke has to strain his ears to hear does Sasuke quirk an eyebrow up in surprise yet again.

“I’m a ninja… because it was the only thing I knew how to do.”

“‘Was’? What about the present?”

“The present? I guess I just never grew out of it.” 

“Pfft. You don’t want to protect the village or anything heroic like that? Maybe even become Hokage?” Sasuke asks sarcastically.

“The Hokage hat probably doesn’t have a place on my head. It’s a different story for your brothers though, maybe even both of them one day.”

Sasuke scoffs. “Itachi I can see, but Naruto? He’s my brother and everything, but I wouldn’t bet on it.”

“At least he’s working for something. At least he has a goal that he’s striving for.”

Sasuke doesn’t need a goal. It’s exactly as Shisui says: He’s alive and breathing, that’s all that matters. 

“Why did Father even send us on this mission?”

“Full of questions today are we? Maybe to test you. Maybe to humor you. Maybe he did it on a whim.”

“But that’s not fair to Sakura,” Sasuke finds himself complaining. “Naruto and I have been outside the village before, but Sakura hasn’t. She—”

“She is a shinobi too,” Kakashi interrupts, his voice firm and resolute. “We haven’t known each other for too long, but from what I’ve seen so far, you two seem pretty close. Trust her, Sasuke. She isn’t some fragile little girl. She’s a kunoichi in her own right and deserves the dignity of one.” 

They sit in silence for a little bit before Sasuke hears rustling behind him and Kakashi saying, “Come on. Let’s get going back.”

\---

Back on the road and after being fed with breakfast, Naruto holds his backpack strap with one hand and has his other hand grasping the medicine box, making sure not to break anything inside. According to Kakashi, they’re nearing the Fire-Grass border, and Naruto is pumped to actually get to _do_ something finally.

Naruto is watching the tree line and absentmindedly listening to the quiet murmurs of conversation between his travel mates when suddenly Sasuke rams his shoulder into his side, knocking them both to the ground. In a haze, Naruto barely sees the two kunai whizz by him and impale Mitsuko on her shoulder and Sakura on her arm after she pushes Hachiro out of the way while Sasuke mutters, “Shit.” 

Only a moment passes before Naruto springs into action, putting his fingers in a familiar cross, and he yells, “Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!” 

As a dozen more Narutos pop into existence, the real Naruto looks around to assess the situation. Sasuke has gotten up too, already rushing to where Mituko and Sakura are currently lying on the ground. Kakashi is standing in front of them with a kunai out in a defensive position, steadily eyeing the area that the kunai came from. Naruto has his clones surround them in a circle while the real Naruto rushes over to where Kakashi is. 

“Kakashi-sensei! What’s happening?”

“Well, it appears that we’re getting attacked. By whom? I guess we’re about to find out.”

In front of them, two shinobi wearing gas masks and blue flak jackets body flicker into their line of sight. On their hitai-ates, they both have a horizontal slash striking through their village symbol: four vertical parallel lines. One of the ninja is twirling a kunai around their index finger while the other is shuffling a deck of cards. 

“I’m sorry, kiddos. But this path is blocked off.”

Kakashi takes a single step forward. “I think I’m a little old to be considered a kid. I’m already in my twenties after all.” 

“Oh?” says the ninja twirling a kunai. “Silver hair. One visible eye. A Hidden Leaf hitai-ate. Well I’ll be. What a pleasure it is to meet you, Kakashi of the Sharingan.”

The two ninja bow slightly, and Naruto feels his breath hitch. This is happening. This is happening. This is actually happening. 

“Am I really that well known? I must apologize, but I do not know who you two are.”

“No matter. All of you will meet your maker soon enough.”

“I’m sorry,” Kakashi growls. “But both of my parents are already dead.”

Naruto blinks once, and things fly in a flash. The shinobi with the kunai chucks the kunai towards Kakashi while the shinobi with the cards throws a couple towards Naruto. Naruto, however, doesn’t catch anymore of what happens to his teacher because the card shinobi starts running right towards him. 

Naruto calls two of his shadow clones to him right before the shinobi swings his right foot in a large arc that hits the real Naruto directly on his side, causing him to drop his medicine box, the shattering of glass ringing in his ear.

“Naruto! Get back!”

Naruto stumbles back as he sees one of Sasuke’s lightning balls hit the shinobi in the abdomen. He stumbles back a little too, but recovers after only a moment. 

“What’s this? Two against one hardly seems fair,” the ninja sneers before letting out a hideous cackle. 

By now, Sasuke has walked up to the real Naruto’s side and says, “Send your clones to Sakura and the others in case there’s more of them. Let’s handle this guy ourselves.” 

“Yeah! Let’s do this!”

Naruto quickly glances behind him, making sure that his clones securely enclose around Sakura, Mituko, and Hachiro. Naruto sends a look towards Sasuke, and runs after the shinobi, feeling the wind hitting his face. He swings his right arm, hitting the man’s arm while Sasuke swipes a foot at his legs. 

The man hops, punches back at Naruto on the face, and kicks Sasuke away. “Is that all you kids got? I thought the great Kakashi of the Sharingan would have better students.”

Sasuke actually sneers from his place on the ground, and Naruto wipes at his lips, blood coloring his finger. Sasuke gets up and grabs a hold of Naruto’s shoulder. “We need to finish this quickly. Sakura and the other girl were poisoned.”

“Poisoned!”

“Oh? Now you realize it. It’s a little cheap, but it will make do.”

With annoying nonchalance, the shinobi starts dropping his deck of cards from one hand to his under hand in a mesmerizing waterfall. He then makes a fan with the cards and starts doing weird maneuvers with the deck. Through his rapid pants for breath, trying to suck in as much air as possible, Naruto starts feeling dizzy and disoriented. 

The more he watches, the more and more cards appear. Naruto subconsciously starts dodging them when the shinobi starts throwing at him like shuriken. One step to the right. Two to the left. Back to the right. The cards keep on coming, coming, coming with seemingly no end. 

To his side, Sasuke is doing much the same, dodging barrage after barrage of playing cards. When one card finally hits Naruto, he expects it to sting a little, but he nearly screams when it cuts the skin of his arm. Another one completely impales him in the torso. Another through his thigh, causing him to fall to his knees. 

“Shit!” Sasuke exclaims next to him, playing cards sticking all throughout his body. 

“Hehehe,” the shinobi cackles. “The house always wins.”

Pain sears throughout all of Naruto’s body. The seven of diamonds sticking through his arm, the king of hearts on his chest, the queen of clubs on his thigh. Next to him, Sasuke also falls to his knees, panting from exhaustion. 

Naruto is about to close his eyes when he hears a girl’s voice. “Sasuke! Naruto!” Sakura then falls to her knees in between them and throws her arms around their shoulders in a hug. 

“Release,” she mutters before going limp. 

Instantly, the pain subsides, and Naruto looks down at his body, seeing one shuriken impaled on his thigh, but only harmless playing cards on the ground in front of him. When Naruto looks up at the enemy shinobi, he realizes how innocent and wide-eyed he looks. Naruto calms down a little bit, but one glance down at Sakura's limp form absolutely enrages him. 

He looks back up to make eye-contact with Sasuke, and his Sharingan-activated eyes look right back at him, big with surprise. Naruto’s nails, which are digging into his palms, sharpen, piercing his skin. But just as immediately, the wound heals, as does all the other wounds on his body. He leans forward, places his hands on the ground, and starts running towards the enemy shinobi in a fox’s prance. 

\---

Sasuke swears that he momentarily sees a swirl of burning, orange chakra take the silhouette of a fox before scattering apart to surround the three of them in a ring of dancing fire. It shimmers and shines in the sunlight before collecting up again and tunneling into Naruto. Sasuke’s never feared his brother before. Until now that is. 

Naruto’s glowing red eyes burn even brighter than the electric blue. His whiskers are even more defined. His movements grow more lithe than before; Sasuke can barely keep up watching him even with his Sharingan, his Sharingan that couldn't even detect a damn, simple genjutsu. In flashes and bursts, Naruto goes toe-to-toe against the playing card shinobi. Kicks and punches, blocks and dodges. 

Sasuke’s lips part as he watches Naruto tackle the shinobi, ripping the gas mask off of his face, chucking it at a nearby tree, and causing it to burst right through the trunk. The orange chakra once again surrounds Naruto in a cloak as he grabs the shinobi’s arm with one hand, winds up his other hand, and punches the ninja, launching him down the road, his ragdoll form bouncing on the dirt. 

“Sasuke,” Sakura mutters, her face paling, “It burns. Why does it burn?”

Sasuke’s skin is prickling too. But he can’t even imagine what it must feel to be battling a poison and evil-feeling chakra. “It’s okay, Sakura. Just don’t close your eyes. Whatever you do, don’t close your eyes.”

“But I’m tired, Sasuke. Just for a couple of minutes.”

“No. NO. NO!” somebody yells from behind them. “Mitsuko, wake up, please!” 

Behind them, the Naruto clones disappear and all that’s left is Hachiro crying over Mitsuko’s body. In front of them, Kakashi finishes up restraining his opponent and is busy trying to calm Naruto down. 

\---

Shit. Shit. Shit. 

“Naruto!” Kakashi yells. “Calm down!” 

Naruto’s red eyes turn towards him, and Kakashi’s eye widens. Immediately, Kakashi lifts up the hitai-ate covering his Sharingan, fear coursing through his body. Naruto leaps towards him, which Kakashi just barely dodges because of his Sharingan. Naruto’s body goes so fast that he is unable to change trajectory and collides with a tree. 

He roars, and the trees and rocks tremble around them in scared shivers. Naruto once again leaps towards Kakashi in a tackle, but this time, instead of dodging, he braces himself, readying to grab Naruto against his chest. When they make physical contact, Kakashi’s skin burns, but he steels himself as his feet drag against the road from the sheer force of Naruto’s tackle, and his back slams into a tree trunk.

“Naruto!” Kakashi tries one more time even after being winded from hitting the tree. “Control yourself! It’s me! Kakashi-sensei!”

Behind him, Kakashi hears the pitter-patter of footsteps running towards them. 

Sasuke’s exhausted sounding voice resonates through the air. “You bonehead! Stop your stupidity so that we can help Sakura and that other girl. They’re still poisoned.” 

Naruto’s eyes flicker back from red to blue. His sharp fingernails recede back into stumps. The sizzling and burning feeling subsides from Kakashi’s body as he continues holding Naruto in a hug as the kid slumps forward onto him. Kakashi maneuvers Naruto to his back in a piggyback position as Sasuke picks up Sakura in a bridal carry. 

They move them to where Hachiro and Mitsuko are, and Kakashi lays Naruto next to Mitsuko, running to collect the medicine boxes right after. He opens up the one that he was holding: null. The one that Sakura had: null. Sasuke’s box is a bingo; however, there’s only one vial. And Naruto’s box… it’s there, but completely shattered.

Kakashi solemnly stalks back to the rest of his party, vial safely against his palm. Neither Sakura nor Mitsuko seem to be doing well. Sasuke is crouched next to Sakura, flicking his eyes between her and Naruto. Hachiro places Mitsuko’s head on his lap and slowly strokes her hair. 

Kakashi runs a hand over his face, trying to evaluate the decision. Curse him for always declining those lessons in medical ninjutsu that Natsu always offers. Curse him for letting a precious student get injured. Curse him for letting an innocent civilian become collateral damage. Curse him. Curse him. Curse him. 

Kakashi clears his throat and puts a hand on his hip. “I’m afraid that there’s only one antidote.”

Hachiro lets out a small whimper while Sasuke actually growls as he snaps his neck to look up at him.. 

“Wh-What can we do, Mr. Kakashi? Can w-we split the dose?” 

Kakashi shakes his head and whispers, “Then both of them will die.”

“Neither of them will die!” Naruto growls out, sitting up by leaning on his elbow, his wounds already miraculously healed. “We can save both of them! We have to!”

“You bonehead! We can’t—”

“Hold on now, Sasuke. It’s not an impossibility—”

“Ha! Told you so!”

“However, it won’t be easy. We need to give the antidote to one person, and then one of us needs to run the other person straight to the Hidden Grass without stopping.”

“We can’t—”

“I’ll do it,” Naruto interrupts, jumping up to his feet. 

“Please,” Hachiro pleads, hope growing in his eyes. “If you can help Mitsuko, then please do it.”

Kakashi eyes Naruto’s body, not finding an ounce of exhaustion or even injury. Kakashi himself knows that he wouldn't be able to make it, neither would Sasuke. Kakashi glances once towards the direction of the Leaf, hoping that Itachi and Fugaku won’t castrate him when he gets home. 

“Fine,” Kakashi mutters, “Naruto will be the runner. Since she is smaller and lighter, he should carry Sakura to the Grass while we give the antidote to Mitsuko.”

“I object!” Sasuke yells. “I will not allow you to endanger Sakura’s life like that.”

“Don’t you trust me, Sasuke?” Naruto asks in a hurt voice that even makes Kakashi wince a little at hearing. 

“No—yes,” Sasuke says, pulling at his hair and snapping his eyes shut. “Of course I trust you… but this is Sakura that we’re talking about. She’s… I can’t let anything happen to her.”

Naruto stretches out his legs a little before picking up Sakura in a piggyback ride. 

“I see,” he whispers. “You do care more about her than me, y’know.”

“Naru—” 

But he runs off into the distance before Sasuke can finish, until they’re only a smidge of orange and pink, scurrying towards the Grass while Kakashi holds his tongue, making damn sure not to mention the broken antidote vial that is sure to break Naruto’s heart.


	6. Family Matters

> It is no mistake that the Hidden Leaf, among the other Great Nations, trampled over the otherwise tranquil Hidden Grass Village during the Third War. However, it is important to remember that the drums of war cry loudly. Winning the Third War was imperative for the Hidden Leaf from a military and political standpoint; so, with sound judgement and promising to pay reparations, the Third Hokage ordered troops to extend the battlefield, thus engulfing the impartial village and land into the grand war between the Great Nations. Tensions between the Leaf and Grass have mellowed since then, in part because the Leaf provides the minor village with aid, but it’s not an easy task, for any Hokage or otherwise, to completely abate the bitter sentiments that Hidden Grass shinobi have towards the Hidden Leaf Village.  
>  — _History of the Third Great Shinobi War_ , Academy reading material, excerpt

\---

Sasuke reluctantly allows Kakashi to tie a bandage around his wounded arm while he taps an impatient finger on the ground, watching Hachiro and Mitsuko lean against a tree trunk a couple of feet in front of them. Hachiro wraps his arm around Mitsuko’s shoulders and pulls her against his side; the intimacy in the act is enough to burn Sasuke’s ever so precious eyes. So instead, in order to shield his eyes, Sasuke directs his attention toward his languid teacher. 

“What?” Sasuke snaps when he finds a tired eye staring back at him. 

Kakashi sighs and pulls the bandage with one final knot. “Nothing. I just know a forlorn look when I see one.”

“Oh please, I’m not some heartbroken maiden. I am _not_ forlorn.”

“Sure, but if you’re not forlorn, then I’m not gay.”

“I…wait, what?” 

A split second silence cloaks the two of them until Kakashi promptly breaks it as abruptly as it came. “Anyways, we need to trust Naruto. I’m afraid that’s all we can do at the moment.”

“Naruto. Sakura,” Mitsuko mutters, clasping her wounded shoulder, “Will they really be okay, Mr. Kakashi?”

“I believe that they will be. We _will_ rendezvous with them in the Grass. There’s no need to worry.”

Kakashi stands up from his squatting position and stretches his arms above his head with a muffled yawn. The finer features of his face, however, reveals a level of stress that is opposite his broader lackadaisical appearance. The small squint in his teacher’s eye has Sasuke certain of the uncertainty in his teacher’s words. Sasuke harrumphs, causing Kakashi to send him one last glance before climbing a nearby tree and pulling a little green book out of his pocket. 

With some reluctance, Sasuke jumps up from his sitting position to go and chase after his teacher. Stopping a couple of feet away from the trunk of the tree, Sasuke braces himself as he makes a mad dash towards it while concentrating chakra at his feet. Already used to the vertigo of walking vertically, Sasuke effortlessly makes it up and sits down next to Kakashi.

At the speed of light, Kakashi snaps the book shut with a _woosh_ and stares back at Sasuke with an unimpressed look. “Honestly, I would’ve liked you to struggle a little bit more. Learning is best experienced through failure.”

Sasuke clicks his tongue. “Everytime I start thinking that I like you, you just make me hate you more and more.” 

“Hate is a powerful word, Sasuke,” Kakashi says while tilting his head to the side. “Be sure to use it sparingly.”

“Anyways, shouldn’t we be heading to the Grass now?”

By now, Sasuke has his arms crossed and is busily tapping his arm guards with his index and middle fingers in rapid succession. After they officially became shinobi, Itachi gave Sasuke white arm guards and Naruto a pair of gloves. And Sasuke, as loathe as he is to admit, genuinely enjoys the gift and is grateful to have something protecting his pale skin against the harsh sun. 

“It’s been a total of 30 minutes,” Kakashi drawls. “I’m sure that you’re just as exhausted as I am.”

“Being exhausted is for the weak,” Sasuke scoffs before biting his thumb nail. 

“We’re not rocks, Sasuke. Even if being shinobi barely makes us human anymore, we have needs that we can’t ignore.”

“What about Naruto then?” Sasuke asks, his voice steadily rising. “Why did you let him play the hero and save the day? Why—”

“Because he’s a special circumstance.”

Immediately, Sasuke’s fingers still. The atmosphere around them freezes and weighs heavily on the both of them. The weight of the words feel like lead. 

After a couple of breaths and an unnerving silence, Sasuke asks in a hopefully steady voice, “What do you mean by that?”

Kakashi rubs his chin, and the ruffle of fingers against fabric echoes into Sasuke’s ears. 

“That…” Kakashi carefully starts, his one visible eye staring into Sasuke’s own like a void. “I can’t say.”

“Pft. It’s always half the story with you, never telling us the whole thing.”

“Don’t forget who you’re talking to, Sasuke.”

“I grew up with Itachi after all,” Sasuke says, lost in thought and ignoring his mentor. “He’s a walking encoded scroll.”

“We don’t mean to keep things from you,” Kakashi says with another sigh. “Once you become older, I’m sure that you’ll learn the full story. Honestly, I barely know the full story myself.”

“And how satisfying will that be? Tales of tragedy can usually be seen from a mile away. I’d rather watch the entire process rather than just the ending.”

Kakashi hums. "Maybe I should recommend you some fairy tales with a happy ending. A personal favorite of mine has the maiden marry her knight in shining armor, and they live happily ever after."

Sasuke closes his eyes and imagines what his own “happy ending” would look like. He sees his adult self with a beautiful, but strong, wife standing besides him. Even in his hazy imagination, she looks absolutely perfect and everything he would want in a partner. Brute strength and elegance exude from her in equal proportions. The need to protect and be protected from her swells in Sasuke’s heart, alternating with every heartbeat. 

In front of them, there are two kids: one boy and one girl. The girl is standing in front of Sasuke, his right hand on her shoulder, and the boy is standing in front of his wife, her left hand on his shoulder. Even without any distinct facial features, Hidden Leaf headbands shine against both of their foreheads, and Sasuke feels fingers against his own forehead, unsure if the action happened in real-life or in his vivid dreamscape. 

Suddenly, the “happy ending” in front of him zooms out, giving him whiplash. Along with his own family of four, two more family units flank his sides: The one to his left has a blond man similar to his own age, while the one to his right has a regal man with black hair. Their families are standing in similar ways to Sasuke’s own. The blond, or Sasuke assumes is Naruto, has an arm wrapped around a woman’s shoulders, with two kids standing in front of them. The regal man, or Sasuke assumes is Itachi, has his hand discreetly clasped around a woman’s hand, a lone teenager in front of the pair. 

All too suddenly, Sasuke blinks, and everybody but his adult self disappears, not a trace to be seen. For one moment, and only one moment, Sasuke sees himself with one tear rolling down his cheek. He only belatedly realizes that he's looking into a mirror when, once again, he sees rows of trees and his languid teacher sitting next to him.

"Fantasy is merely fantasy,” Sasuke says with a grimace, pissed for even deluding himself for a moment. “I would rather not lie to myself into believing I'll get a happy ending than deal with the disappointment."

It would take a careful eye to notice, but Kakashi’s eye squints ever so slightly. A small crease forms around his right eye as he scrutinizes Sasuke. 

"Realism is fine as long as you don't become overly pessimistic, Sasuke.”

“So, what makes Naruto a ‘special circumstance’?”

Kakashi pulls a little book out of his vest pocket. “By the way, have you read the book _Makeout Paradise_ yet?” 

“No.”

“Well, I recommended it to Itachi, and he really seemed to enjoy it. If you want, I can lend you a copy? And don’t worry, I’ll be sure to redact some of the more ‘salacious’ bits—”

“I’m going back to where the other two are. And no, I don’t want to read that book, much less a copy from you.”

“Your loss,” is the last thing that Sasuke hears before jumping off of the tree branch and walking back to his tree.

Back at his tree, Sasuke finds Hachiro waiting there for him, tapping his foot on the ground and fingers on his arms. Mitsuko is asleep against the tree behind him, but every couple of seconds, Hachiro turns his head to check on her, the feeling of not being able to do the same not missing Sasuke. 

When he’s within earshot, Hachiro smirks and says, “So, Mitsuko let slip that you and Naruto are brothers.”

“He…that idiot. Sure, we’re brothers.”

“Ya know,” Hachiro starts, sitting up against Sasuke’s tree and patting the ground next to him. “I’m the youngest siblin’ of nine, but I’m sure that you heard already. Are you older, or is Naruto?”

“Middle child. Naruto’s the youngest, and we have an eldest brother,” Sasuke finds himself saying before he can stop himself, still standing in his place, momentarily resisting the urge to sit down. 

Sasuke doesn’t know why, but he succumbs to his desire and humors Hachiro by sitting down next to him. Naruto seems to trust the man, so in his heart of hearts, Sasuke must share the sentiment, no matter how stupid the reason. 

“Ahh, the middle child of three. Let me guess, you don’t have a good relationship with your dad? Or your mom?”

Sasuke sputters a little. “H-How—”

“It’s the law of siblings of course,” Hachiro professes, sounding way too happy saying it. “The oldest is treated the harshest, the youngest is doted upon, and the middle children are mainly ignored. Trust me, as the youngest, I know how it is; I’ve seen it all.”

Sasuke nods his head and hums. 

“Ya know, I was, and still am, the baby of the family. I swear that my Pa almost cried when me and Mitsuko decided to leave our village, and that man never cries; I’ve never seen him cry in my entire life. My Ma and Sis did actually cry though. Some of my other siblin’s didn’t even bother sayin’ bye.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Sasuke mutters, not even bothering to make eye contact. 

“Because talking is a favorite pastime of mine. It really helps take ya mind off a things, ya know?” 

“No, I don’t know.” 

“How ‘bout this then? Let’s play a little game.”

“No.”

“How about tic-tac-toe?”

Sasuke rolls his eyes as Hachiro grabs a random stick on the ground and draws the recognizable pattern in the dirt. He draws a circle on the upper left hand corner and promptly hands off the stick to Sasuke. “Favorite color?”

Sasuke draws an x on the bottom right hand corner. “What?”

Hachiro shrugs as he draws a circle in the top middle. “Sorry. I just really hate the silence. Unnerving, ya know?”

Sasuke draws an x in the top right box and tsks, “Sounds like something Naruto would say.”

Hachiro draws a circle in the middle right box. “I don’t mean to meddle, but I heard that kerfuffle ya had with Naruto.”

Sasuke draws an x in the bottom left box, chucks the stick towards another tree trunk, and preemptively declares, “I win.” 

Hachiro laughs, a full-bellied laugh, as he shakes his head and wipes away the gamestate. “Isn’t winning great?”

Sasuke can’t help but smile at hearing Hachiro’s contagious laughter. And after a while, Sasuke involuntarily lets out a small chuckle, which in turn makes Hachiro laugh even harder. Before he even knows it, he’s clutching his stomach, laughing at the absurdity of laughing for the sake of hearing somebody else’s laugh. Laugher breeds laughter, which in turn breeds more laughter. Laughter, laughter, laughter breathes itself upon the otherwise quiet forest, and after a while, laughter can even be heard from Kakashi’s spot high in the trees. 

”Sure,” Sasuke says through wheezes.

“Laughter really is the best medicine, ain’t it?” Hachiro says while wiping away tears. 

\---

Naruto runs and runs and runs, until eventually, the passing trees steadily become passing bamboo stalks. The very _feeling_ of the area steadily shifts from the domestic to the foreign. The Land of Fire’s ideals of raw strength and brute force slowly get blown into the wind with every step taken forth and get replaced with ideals of unwilling, but necessary, dependence. Naruto, with heavy heaves of breath, realizes that he’s already crossed the border. 

Fear courses through him as he runs. The fear of failure. The fear of the unknown. The fear of isolation. The uniform beat of his footsteps is the only thing keeping his heartbeat from going totally erratic. Every passing step feels like he’s running deeper and deeper into the unknown with nothing securing him to be pulled back out. 

“Na…” Sakura mutters into his ear. 

Naruto jumps slightly, breaking his pace, but he gets back into stride quickly and responds, “It’s going to be okay, Sakura. It’s going to be okay.”

He honestly doesn’t know if he’s reassuring Sakura or himself. But whichever the case, the words seem to have its intended effect. 

“Na… Tell my Ma and Pa that I love them,” she then goes quiet for a moment. “Sai, too.”

Naruto’s lips twitch upwards, the wind still hitting his face and flinging his hair around in all directions. “Why don’t you tell them that yourself?”

“I will. But, just to make sure. No regrets.”

Regrets. Naruto’s head spins at the events that seem to have just transpired, a pounding on his head making it difficult to concentrate. This was supposed to be an awesome mission, a mission to show his dad that he can _handle_ it. He can handle being out of the village and doesn’t need to be babied around, looking for stray cats and helping grannies. 

Of course, those are meaningful missions, but Naruto thought that he was above it already. He was above petty missions that were reserved for genin and could contribute to the village in a more proper way. The only thing that he was surprised about in the mission assignment room was his dad’s easy willingness to let them go. 

The look on Sasuke’s face right before he took off makes Naruto regret it. Naruto and Sasuke are two peas in a pod—they grew up together and are as close as twins in a twisted sort of sense. People even forget sometimes that they have different birthdays, and that Sasuke is the older of the two. 

But, Naruto knows in his heart of hearts that Sasuke’s eyes were locked onto Sakura like a hawk. Granted, she was heavily injured and the words just kind of slipped out of his mouth, but still. Naruto and Sasuke are brothers; they have a lifetime of trust between them. Naruto would absolutely trust Sasuke with the lives of Shikamaru and Choji, two of his closest friends, and still care about Sasuke’s own wellbeing of running blindly into a foreign land. Why can’t Sasuke do the same with Sakura and himself?

Finally, after trekking for what feels like forever, a sign saying “Village Hidden in the Grass”, in bold print and an arrow pointing further down the road makes its appearance on the dirt road. And after just a little more running, buildings and civilization appear in between the towering bamboo, along with a steady stream of bodies starting to fill out the road more, including people entering and exiting the village. Naruto has to weave in between the busy bodies, trying to make sure he doesn’t accidentally knock anybody over and attract any unwanted attention, or even worse, do something to hurt Sakura. 

Unlike the Leaf, there’s no big wall encapsulating the village, and thus, no formal checkpoint for entering. At the main entrance only stands two drowsy guards, both of their arms crossed over their chests with glazed over eyes. They make no greetings and salutations for those entering and exiting, carry no clipboards or any signs showing authority, and Naruto has a hard time even believing that they’re awake. 

Naruto takes one step into the village proper, and immediately feels a sense of intense overwhelming at being in a foreign village on his own, barring Sakura, of course. He knows the Hidden Leaf like the back of his hand: where all the roads lead, where the best restaurants are, and where the best hiding spots are. He knows where all of his friends live, and the fastest routes from his house to their houses. He knows where to go when he feels sad, happy, or angry. 

But once in the Hidden Grass, he’s lost. The bodies all around him feel unfamiliar, and the buildings feel like strangers. Naruto involuntarily tightens his hold on Sakura, and his breath hitches when somebody taps on his shoulder and grabs his arm, dragging him towards the edge of the street. 

Naruto steadies his senses, and a puff of smoke hits his face, causing him to sneeze into the empty space in front him of him since his hands are still preoccupied with Sakura. Naruto looks up and sees a middle aged man with a pipe dangling from his lips glaring at him. 

Another puff later, the man says, “I don’t know what they’re teaching you in the Leaf, but blocking the roads here is unforgivable. People have places to be; we don’t exactly have the luxury to _leisure_ around like you folk.”

“Sorry, Mister,” Naruto replies, not cowering from the man’s penetrating gaze. “But I’m looking for the hospital, it’s kind of urgent, y’know.”

The man lifts a hand and jerks his thumb behind him, puffing another bout of smoke into Naruto’s face. “That way. One of the biggest buildings in the village.”

The way he says it makes the hairs on Naruto’s neck stand on edge. The sense of… animosity is palpable, even in the curt reply, and Naruto has a hard time saying anything back. 

“Thanks, Mister!” Naruto chooses, unsure if he made the right decision, and he bolts towards the direction of the hospital, not waiting for the man to reply. 

\---

Karin nibbles on her onigiri, savoring every bite. The rice is stale and there isn’t much filling, but she still smiles to herself after taking every bite, trying to find the small joys in life. Luckily, it’s been a pretty lackluster day at the hospital, so her boss extended her break by a whole five minutes.

Currently, she’s sitting on a bench in front of the hospital, taking in the smell of the village that both saved her and damned her. The village that both saved her mother and killed her mother. The village that she’s both thankful for and hateful for. The village that she luckily and unluckily calls home. 

She hears the pounding footsteps before she sees the body. Karin leans forward slightly and sees a blond boy carrying a girl running in her general direction. The pink-haired girl has definitely seen better days, but the boy seems as fit as a fiddle, if not even more so. 

Once the boy runs past her and skids to a stop to turn to the hospital’s entrance, time appears to stop. For a moment, the sudden urge to follow the duo courses through Karin like a mantra. Her feet move before her mind thinks, and before she knows it, she’s shadowing the duo and sits in a closeby chair, making sure it’s close enough to eavesdrop. 

“Please!” the blond boy shouts. “Do you want money? I have the ryo to pay for it.” 

The woman behind the counter, who happens to notoriously hate her job, blinks back at the blond boy and yawns into her hand. “No. We do not want _your_ money. Please leave before we need to escort you out.”

The blond boy heaves out a heavy sigh. “Why though?”

“I told you already. Are all Leaf shinobi this dense? This is the Hidden Grass Hospital that serves the Grass. We don’t need one of your kind contaminating the beds.” 

It’s time for her to return to work, but Karin simply doesn’t care. This boy: He, and the girl as well, seem to be around her age, and Karin doesn’t miss the novelty of it. After spending so much time in the hospital, she knows every adolescent in the village from seeing them for their yearly checkups, but none of them know her. Well, they know of her, but that perception overshadows any actual facts about her. The kids of the village know her as the girl with red-hair from the hospital that will heal them if they ever suffer any serious injuries. They know Karin the Healer, not Karin the Girl. 

By now, Karin senses it; she senses the evil chakra rise and envelope the blond boy. His comforting chakra shifts and transforms into one that can only be described as wicked, but nonetheless, the connection she feels towards the boy ceases to waver. 

“Aren’t hospitals supposed to help people!”

His rising voice starts stirring up a scene, but the nurse behind the counter continues standing with her arms crossed. The nurse’s infamous uncaring attitude is at odds with her current resolve and resoluteness, so much so, that some ninja in the lobby get up from their seats and swagger towards the duo. 

“Oi! Didn’t ya hear the missus? Scram kid, we don’t want your kind around here”

A conflicted face contorts the blond boy’s face, but before any of the ninja can take action, he slinks out of the hospital as fast as he came in. The moment he leaves, a soft chatter of gossip erupts in the otherwise lull hospital lobby. Things like “Stupid Leaf Shinobi” and “The nerve!” reaches Karin’s ear, and through the commotion, she slips out of the hospital as well, following the warm chakra emitting from the pink-haired girl rather than the seething, evil chakra emitting from the blond boy. 

\---

Naruto walks without aim and without purpose while muttering, “Sorry, Sakura,” like a prayer. 

As much as he wants to do it, barging in and demanding treatment doesn’t seem very viable, so he runs his mind thinking about anything, anything at all, that he can do. Naruto has to admit that he accepted being the runner without any real thought about what to do when he actually gets to the village. He thought that he would just walk in like the Leaf Hospital, get Sakura treated, and then wait around for Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei, Hachiro, and Mitsuko. 

He walks for three minutes when he senses it: the feeling of being trailed. One glance at a window reveals a girl around his age with vibrant red hair following close behind him, but not quite in arm’s reach. In a twisted sort of sense, she reminds him of his mom. Even through the window’s reflection, her hair is just as warm and fiery as his mom’s hair that he’s seen in pictures so many times. 

To test his suspicions, Naruto takes four right turns, and lo and behold, a glance at another window reveals the same girl behind him. Naruto stops suddenly and pivots on his foot to face the girl directly. She shrieks and looks down so quickly that her glasses fall off of her face. Naruto has half the mind to help pick them up, but the sudden realization of Sakura’s weight on his back causes him to remember just how defenseless he is. 

“The girl,” the redhead mutters after standing back up and quickly putting her glasses back on, “What happened to her?”

Words tumble out of Naruto’s mouth before he can stop them. “She’s been poisoned, y’know.”

“I see,” she replies and turns on her heels, starting to walk away. 

Naruto stares after her retreating figure until she turns around and rolls her eyes. “Follow me. And hurry up.”

In a betrayal of everything he’s been taught, Naruto follows the redhead to who knows where, but the sense of danger or peril never enters his system. Eventually, he’s led to a quaint little hut by the edge of the village and Naruto steps inside. 

The redhead points to a cot, so Naruto takes the cue and lays Sakura down, his back feeling impossibly light now. He sits down on the bed next to his teammate and scrutinizes the redhead, who’s busy scavenging through various cabinets, until she eventually finds what she’s looking for. 

She walks to the cot with a vial in hand, but before she can even uncap it, Naruto jumps up from his seat and grabs her arm. 

“What is that?” 

“It’s a panacea for common poisons. And don’t touch me,” she barks back, losing the facade of a shy girl. 

Naruto immediately lets go and rubs the back of his neck. “Sorry.”

She tsks, uncaps the vial, and tips it’s contents into Sakura’s mouth. After putting the empty vial on a nearby table, she gently unties Sakura’s hitai-ate.

“You should do the same,” she says, holding the headband in her hands. “In the Grass, this is a mark of hostility.”

Naruto reaches up and feels the cool metal of his own hitai-ate on his fingers. The cool metal that he worked so hard to achieve. The cool metal that represents his very pride as a shinobi of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. “Thanks, but I’m good, y’know.”

The redhead looks up at him before she sets Sakura’s hitai-ate down next to the empty vial. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“What’s your name by the way? I’m Uzumaki Naruto of the Hidden Leaf!”

“Uzu—” the girl mutters before a pounding on the door cuts her off, causing both of them to jerk their heads toward it. 

“Karin! Get back to your shift before I burn this hut down!” 

“I’m sorry, but I need to go. Please leave by the time I get back.”

And with that, the girl is gone, leaving Naruto with a sense of relief as Sakura’s fever seems to be going down and with a sense of familiarity after meeting the redhead, who’s apparently named “Karin”, and looks like his mom.


	7. Burnt Okonomiyaki

> Words can slice just as effectively as the sharpest blades.  
>  —a quote hanging in an Academy classroom 

\---

After a restless night, Sasuke and the rest of his party finally make it to the Hidden Grass Village, two medicine boxes in Kakashi’s hands, one in Sasuke’s own, and embarrassingly, one in Hachiro’s non-Leaf shinobi hand. Sasuke also has two backpacks, his own on his back and Naruto’s against his chest, while Mitsuko carries Sakura’s bag under her arm.

“Well,” Kakashi says, walking right past the lifeless-looking guards and into the village. “Let’s drop these off at the hospital and then look for Naruto and Sakura.”

“Shouldn’t they be at the hospital, too?” Sasuke mumbles under his breath. 

He can’t imagine that looking for them will be too hard, but it is _Naruto_ after all. His brother has a knack for not being found when he really feels like it, and Sasuke hopes that this is not one of those times. 

Kakashi hums for a moment, his mask slightly muffling the already quiet noise. “They should be.”

Their entourage walks fully through the entrance, and Sasuke already hates everything about the village one step in: the people, the buildings, the atmosphere. Everything feels foreign yet domestic. Exotic yet normal. While the roads and mood of the Hidden Sand feel completely detached from the Hidden Leaf whenever Sasuke goes there with his family, the Hidden Grass holds a sort-of unsettlingly intimate feeling. Almost as if they’re in the Leaf—except they’re not. 

The crushing weight of death stares as they walk down the main avenue makes Sasuke’s eye twitch, so he instinctively looks back at one person dead-in-the-eye and smirks to himself when they cower slightly and avert their gaze. If there’s one thing that he’s grateful for inheriting from his father, it’s his intense eyes. The man can truly make any beast cower before his scrutiny, although Sasuke’s never experienced it personally; he’s only experienced burning indifference from Lord Hokage’s eyes. 

He stares down passerbys a couple more times until he notices that they finally made it to a building with the words “Hidden Grass Hospital: By the Grass, For the Grass” etched onto a sign in front of it. Sasuke purses his lips at the words, unsure if he likes the phrase or hates it, but he nonetheless follows his teacher into the building with Hachiro and Mitsuko following close behind him. 

Once they make it inside, Sasuke clicks his tongue and glances at Hachiro expectantly. He flicks his eyes between the man’s face and the medicine box that he’s holding and tries his best to ignore the hurt look on his face. It reminds him all too well of his Academy classmates that failed and were unable to attain their hitai-ates on graduation day. His peers that spent years of their lives training to become shinobi, only to work in some unrelated profession, where in a hidden village, they fall inferior to the shinobi that they lost to in the big scramble for a profession that Sasuke doesn’t even know if he wants. 

It’s almost laughable, but Sasuke isn’t easily humored. 

Hachiro hands him the medicine box and says, “And there goes my mornin’ of bein’ a ninja.”

Even if Sasuke isn’t easily humored, there’s no mistaking that Hachiro erupted hysterical laughter out of him that not even some of his classmates have been able to do in the past. Sasuke jerks his head in what he thinks is a friendly gesture while Mitsuko gently slaps her husband on the arm with a giggle. 

“Oh, Hachiro, I don’t think you’re cut out for it.”

“That’s not true,” Kakashi says, turning back to face them. “Anybody has the capacity to be a shinobi.”

The four of them walk towards the front desk, and while they queue in line, Sasuke repeatedly taps his foot on the ground, the weight of both backpacks and two medicine boxes trying to drag his lithe body to the ground. Either Kakashi doesn’t notice or doesn’t care, because the man makes no move to help Sasuke, even as his knees threaten to buckle under him. 

Mitsuko, however, does come to his rescue as she takes a hold of one of the medicine boxes with one hand, the one on the opposite side of her shoulder injury, and presses the index finger of her other hand to her lips as she flickers her eyes to Hachiro, who’s busy talking to Kakashi. With his newly freed hand, Sasuke bites his thumb, but nonetheless, nods his head in gratitude yet again. 

“Mr. Kakashi, Sasuke.” Mitsuko says, interrupting Kakashi and Hachiro’s conversation. “It’s truly been an honor traveling with you all.”

“Yeah,” Hachiro adds. “It wasn’t an easy till, but I’m really glad we met y’all durin’ our journey.”

Kakashi nods his head. “Likewise. It’s not everyday that you can meet such kind people on the roads anymore. Count us fortunate, I guess.”

“Or unfortunate,” Sasuke mutters.

Sasuke can’t even think about a more unfortunate first mission to have. Sakura’s injured and away from their jonin mentor, Naruto grew an evil cloak around his body and then healed like nothing even happened, a few of the items in the boxes that they’re supposed to deliver are technically broken, and that’s only naming a few of the tragedies that happened in the last few days. 

When they get back home, Sasuke is going to make sure that their next few missions are laxed and not far from the village. And he’ll do it through Itachi of course; there’s no amount of heartache that will make him directly ask his father. 

“What was that?” Mitsuko asks in a gentle voice. 

“Nothing.”

Kakashi and Hachiro fall back into a conversation between themselves, and as Mitsuko starts humming to herself, Sasuke’s eyes flutter towards the rest of the lobby. Unlike the Leaf Hospital where there’s shinobi all over the place and it’s congested half the time, there’s mainly civilians here. Sure, a few ninja are strewn about around the lobby, but a majority of the place is filled with middle-aged citizens and the elderly. 

Sasuke can’t quite decide if he prefers the hustle-and-bustle of the Leaf Hospital, or if he likes the lull of the Grass Hospital. Thanks to Tsunade of the Legendary Sannin, many consider the Leaf as the mecca of medicine in the Shinobi World. The Leaf Hospital is second-to-none and Leaf medical ninja are revered as experts in the field. 

In Sasuke’s opinion, the Leaf has the most pragmatic unspoken specialty. Whereas the Sand has puppet masters, the Mist has swordsman, the Stone has demolitionists, and the Cloud has martial artists, the medics of the Leaf give their village an important foundation for other Leaf shinobi to stand on. They may not be as bombastic as other specialists, but they are nonetheless a cornerstone to the Hidden Leaf’s success in war and peace alike. 

And now that Sasuke thinks about it, he realizes that no Uchiha in living memory has ever been a trained medic. It’s not exactly banned per se, but pressure from elder clansmen against the medical arts might as well be a ban. Sasuke wonders if he would be able to withstand the pressure if he so dared to beckon it. 

As they near the front of the line, Kakashi and Hachiro both turn around in sync, causing Mitsuko to let out an amused giggle. The two men turn to face each other, again in sync, and two mirrored smiles pull at their lips—well, at Hachiro’s at least. But Sasuke suspects that he’s starting to learn how to see smiles in Kakashi’s eye, even from the short amount of time that he’s known the man. 

“Well,” Kakashi says. “This was an experience I’m sure none of us will forget. I, and I think that I’m speaking for my entire team, really do wish the two of you the best, in your recovery, Mitsuko, and in your general futures. Let’s go, Sasuke.”

Sasuke nods his head and doesn’t even jump when he suddenly feels the medicine box being pushed back into his hand. He doesn’t bother looking up at Mitsuko’s face because he can already feel the smile radiating off of it, and it’s a general rule of thumb to not look directly into the sun—or anything as bright as it.

After, Mitsuko hands Sakura’s bag over to Kakashi, and then she and Hachiro wave them goodbye. “‘Till next time! And make sure to bring Naruto and Sakura!” 

A couple footsteps and waves later, Sasuke and Kakashi plop their medicine boxes in front of a nurse who looks to have a look of perpetual annoyance etched onto her face. Kakashi slides her the necessary paperwork, and Sasuke winces at the hideous attempt of a flirtatious blink she shoots at his teacher. She has the look of a goblin lusting after gold, oblivious to the obvious discrepancy in their worths. Kakashi, however, appears unfazed and starts picking at his nails. 

“So, Mr. Kakashi,” the nurse says in a voice that edges on desperate. “My shift here is almost over. I can show you a _good time_ if you want?”

“Actually, I was wondering if you can show me to either Uzumaki Naruto’s room or Haruno Sakura’s room?” Kakashi deadpans. 

The nurse raises an eyebrow and flickers through a stack of papers but doesn’t really look through it. “We don’t have an Uzumaki or Haruno checked in. Of course, there’s Uzumaki Karin, but I can’t imagine that you would be looking for _that_ girl.”

Immediately, Sasuke’s interest perks up. From what he’s heard and read, the Uzumaki are a dead clan outside of his idiot brother and small blood ties with other noble clans. The only non living vestige remaining of them are the red swirls on Hidden Leaf vests. From the perspective of the Leaf, the powerful Uzumaki clan is but a relic of the past—except for Naruto, of course. 

Sasuke has never asked his brother about it, but he knows that Naruto was unusually attentive about the Uzumaki clan unit during their Academy days. While Sasuke couldn’t care less about the Uchiha clan unit, learning about the destruction of the Hidden Whirlpool and how the Leaf did _nothing_ to stop it shook Sasuke to his core. How could the village not stop such an atrocity? There were just as many casualties as refugees resulting from the incident, yet the mighty Village Hidden in the Leaves did nothing to intervene and prevent the absolute destruction of one of their closest allies. 

Sasuke can’t imagine that the Leaf wouldn’t budge a finger if the Uchiha clan was threatened to be massacred or something. Of course the village would intervene to prevent it, even if his father wasn’t the Hokage, right?

One look at his teacher tells him that he’s thinking the same thing: They need to meet this “Uzumaki Karin”.

“Actually,” Kakashi says, resting his elbows on the counter and leaning forward slightly. “If you could, I would like to meet this ‘Uzumaki Karin’.”

The nurse’s breath hitches slightly as a faint blush paints her cheeks. She starts fanning herself with a hand and not-so-subtly licks her lips. A full body shiver runs through Sasuke’s body as he looks to his teacher in horror. Kakashi, however, only places a hand on his hip while he waits for her to reply. 

“I-I’m sure that I can make it happen. Please wait one moment, Mr. Kakashi.”

The nurse bows slightly and scurries off further into the hospital with a little skip in her step, slightly shoving people aside as she leaves the room. 

“She better hurry up,” Sasuke hisses. “And Sakura better be okay, too.”

Kakashi pivots his body and looks at him with a bored look. “Oh, I’m certain that the both of them are alright. And trust Naruto; he is your brother after all.”

Brother. Sasuke’s heard and used the word so many times, it sounds weird in his head; it doesn’t even sound like a real word anymore. Deep down, Sasuke really does trust Naruto, but that doesn’t eliminate the annoyance that bubbles under his skin when he thinks about Naruto, and in turn, his own ineptitude. 

Naruto and Sakura aren’t even that close, and yet, it’s Naruto that gets to save her. It’s not only Naruto that gets to save her, he gets to do it because Sasuke can’t. He was physically unable to save his teammate—his friend. Even though Sasuke has resigned himself to the fact that he would never beat Naruto in physical prowess long ago, it doesn’t take away the pain of incompetence that he keeps locked away in the darkest crevices of his heart. 

Eventually, the nurse comes back with a taut smile and an iron grip on a redhead’s arm. “Mr. Kakashi, this is Uzumaki Karin.”

“Great,” Kakashi says, nodding his head towards the entrance. “Come with us for a second, Karin.”

The nurse shoves the girl forward and slaps her hands together. The moment Karin breaks free from the death grip, she rubs at the spot where the nurse’s arms just were, wincing when her own fingers touch her arm. 

“Well, then,” the nurse says. “I’ll be waiting for you, Mr. Kakashi!”

Only at the entrance and out of earshot does Kakashi mutter, “I certainly won’t be.”

The three of them walk a little ways to a bench, and Sasuke sighs a breath of relief as he finally rids Naruto’s bag from his chest and sets it on the seat. Karin delicately sits next to it, and Kakashi stands next to Sasuke, crossing his arms and staring down at the girl. 

“What do you want with me?” Karin barks, much to Sasuke’s surprise after seeing her seeming obedience in the hospital. 

“Yeah, Sensei,” Sasuke mutters. “What do we want with her?”

After he says it, it’s only then that Karin seems to notice his presence. Red eyes hidden behind her glasses flicker over to him, locking them into direct eye-contact. Her cheeks tint a light shade of pink as she averts her eyes to look at the ground, once again, falling back into the shy girl persona seen in the hospital. 

“I just have some questions that I want to ask, nothing more and nothing less.”

“I won’t answer them if I don’t want to,” Karin mutters. 

“Of course,” Kakashi says. “We are in your village after all.”

Karin harrumphs, but says nothing more. 

“Anyways, let’s grab some food while we chat. Any preferences?”

Karin’s face lights up. “I wouldn’t be opposed to okonomiyaki.”

“Sensei,” Sasuke hisses. “We don’t have time to eat. Let’s just hurry up and look for Sakura and Naruto.”

“Naruto?” Karin echoes. 

“That’s actually what I wanted to ask about,” Kakashi says, not moving an inch despite being the one to suggest they get food. “You seem to be acquainted with the name?”

Karin takes off her glasses and rubs the lenses with her shirt while looking at the ground. 

“Do you know anything?” Sasuke presses. 

Karin takes her time, rubbing the lenses for way too long. 

“Do. You. Know. Anything?” Sasuke repeats, taking a step forward with every word. It’s only after he says “anything” that he feels a hand on his shoulder. 

“Be polite, Sasuke,” Kakashi reprimands. 

Sasuke pinches the bridge of his nose and closes his eye. He felt it; he was this close to accidentally activating his Sharingan. 

“Uzumaki Naruto,” Karin mutters. “I met him yesterday, but I don’t know where he is now.”

“Was he with a girl with pink hair?” explodes out of Sasuke’s mouth. 

Karin looks a little taken aback, but she nods. “I gave her an antidote. She should be feeling better by now.”

Sasuke heaves out a heavy sigh, and Kakashi a light one. A weight feels like it’s been lifted off of Sasuke’s shoulders. Sasuke lifts Naruto’s backpack and slings the straps over his shoulders, already content with looking absolutely ridiculous with two backpacks on and keeping that burden on his shoulders for just a little longer. 

“Let’s find those two idiots, then we can get okonomiyaki,” Sasuke relents. “Where were they last?”

“Um, they were at my house, but they’ve left by now,” Karin says before quickly adding. “Or they were supposed to anyways. I spent the night at the hospital, so I haven’t been back yet.”

“Why don’t we check there first then?” Kakashi suggests.

Karin nods and turns around to walk away while Sasuke and Kakashi follow closely behind her. 

\---

By the time Naruto wakes up, the sun is already in the sky and his neck feels as stiff as a board. It’s only after a few seconds does he realize that he has no idea where he is and sits up at lightning speed, almost giving himself whiplash from the action with a groggy head. 

It takes a few minutes for Naruto to wake up more fully and recognize the green eyes boring into his very soul. 

“Oh!” Naruto says. “Good morning, Sakura!”

“Naruto,” she says in a scarily steady voice. “Where are we right now?”

“Oh, we’re at Karin’s place, y’know.”

“Naruto, who is Karin?”

“Oh, Karin is… the person that cured you, y’know.”

“I see,” Sakura mutters. “Naruto, _who_ is Karin?”

Naruto scratches the back of his neck and looks away. 

“Naruto, we are in a foreign village, in a foreign land, in a foreign stranger’s home, and we are just sitting here chitchatting?”

“At least you remember that much. You should be healed then!”

“Naruto—”

But before Sakura can finish talking, the front door squeeks open, causing her to scream bloody murder. Naruto winces from the noise, slapping his hands over his ears. 

“Shut up!” shouts an exasperated, but familiar, voice. 

“Sasuke!” Naruto and Sakura shout at the same time. 

“No wonder last night and this morning felt eerily quiet,” Sasuke quips, crossing his arms and looking at them after following Karin fully in the room. 

Kakashi follows after Sasuke and places a hand on his hip.

It’s Karin, however, that speaks next. “What part of ‘please leave by the time I get back’ do you not understand?”

“Yeah, about that…”

Naruto honestly meant to leave, he really did. But the room was just so cozy and homey, and he might have just gotten a little too comfortable. And that’s not even mentioning the absolute disaster that occurred yesterday. 

“I’m waiting.”

“Well, Ikindoffellasleep, y’know.”

“Well anyways,” Kakashi says. “Now that we’ve rendezvoused and completed the mission, let’s go eat lunch. Of course, Karin you’re free to join us.” 

“I need to get back to the hospital.”

“What! You should come with us!” Naruto insists. “You’re the reason that we got out of that bind.”

“Yeah, Karin is it?” After Karin nods, Sakura continues, “You have to let us show our gratitude. You did save my life after all.”

“I don’t—”

“I did say that we could get okonomiyaki after we found Sakura and Naruto,” Sasuke says. “You were the one to suggest it after all.”

“Okonomiyaki!” Naruto exclaims. “I wonder how different it would be here than in the Leaf, y’know!”

Sasuke clicks his tongue, and it’s only then that Naruto realizes they haven’t really made eye contact this entire morning. Naruto, however, is determined not to yield and be the first one to break. Naruto got the last words in before he left, so now the ball’s in Sasuke’s court, and Naruto is not one to hit any fouls. 

“I guess I can go,” Karin reluctantly relents. 

“Then let’s get going,” Kakashi says. “Karin, would you so kindly lead the way to the best okonomiyaki place in the village. I apologize, but I’m not quite familiar with the Grass myself.”

“Sure, there’s this place that’s right off of the central plaza, and it’s just heavenly.”

“I’m starving!” Naruto says. “Let’s go!”

And right after Naruto walks out the door, he almost staggers back on his feet because Sasuke hits him right in the gut with his own backpack. As Sasuke walks away, leaving Naruto feeling like he just took a gut-punch, the blond has half the mind to yell out his brother's name just before realizing the resolve he just made to himself. Damn timing!

\---

“Sakura,” Sasuke mutters, grabbing her arm to guide her into standing into the back of the group with him. 

“I’m so sorry, Sasuke,” Sakura says. “You must have been so worried!”

“I…” but Sasuke stops himself before he can finish. He really wants to deny the claim. But, he just can’t. “I was: about you and Naruto. But, you really shouldn’t be the one apologizing.”

“Sorry,” Sakura says before immediately slapping a hand over her mouth. 

Looking at her arms, every part of Sasuke’s brain goes numb as he takes off his arm guards and holds them out to her for no apparent reason. “Here.”

“What?”

“Just…” Sasuke struggles to find any words. “Take them.”

Sakura sputters a little, looking at him in bewilderment. 

“Do I need to spell it out for you?” Sasuke snaps, feeling his cheeks burn slightly. “They were a gift from Itach’, so take it as collateral.”

“I…” but Sakura breaks into a fit of giggles. “I’m sorry that I don’t have anything to give you.”

“Don’t mention it,” Sasuke says. “I don’t need anything anyways.”

Sakura puts on the arm guards while Sasuke schools his expression. His resolve breaks, however, when she starts posing her arms while walking like some manga character, and Sasuke’s mouth twitches. 

“Hey!” Sakura says, slapping his arm. “You’re the one that gave them to me; you have to tell me that they look good at least.”

“They look like arm guards.”

“Well, I for one,” Kakashi says, looking back from in front of them. “Think that they suit you, Sakura.”

“Thanks, Sensei!”

“Woah,” Naruto says, also turning around. “Did Sasuke give them to you?”

Sakura smiles. “Yeah.”

“Those were a gift from Itach’, y’know,” Naruto practically echoes. “He wouldn’t give them away lightly.”

Annoyance starts bubbling up from under Sasuke’s skin. “I’m standing right here.” 

Naruto hums, not even glancing in his direction. 

“Um, anyways,” Sakura says, breaking the silence. “Karin, is the restaurant that we’re going to grill-it-yourself?”

“Yeah, it is.”

“Great.”

They walk in silence until they reach the restaurant. At the restaurant, they all get their bowls of ingredients and start mixing it together; Karin is the first to pour her batter on the griddle. Kakashi follows by pouring his, then Sakura, then Sasuke. The four savory pancakes quietly hum in the heat while the missing fifth is just as loud. 

“Naruto,” Kakashi says with a bored look. “You should put it on the griddle now. We’re not going to be here the entire afternoon.”

“Oh yeah, of course,” Naruto says with a tense face. “I’m going to put it on the griddle now!”

Sasuke pinches the bridge of his nose. Naruto enjoys eating a hefty amount of food, but the idiot is prone to kitchen mishaps. Their mom’s eyes had cold fury in them when Naruto accidentally broke one of her favorite spatulas when they were younger. And another time, Itachi looked like he had his heart broken clean in half when Naruto shattered his favorite measuring cup and had glass spew all over the cream puff batter that they were working on. 

Sasuke holds a hand out with a bored expression. 

“What?” Naruto says, making eye contact with him for the first time the entire morning. 

“I’ll do it for you,” Sasuke says. “We don’t need your dumbass accidentally causing a fire.”

“I’m not a dumbass,” Naruto mutters. 

“What?” Sasuke says. “Just hand over your batter.”

“I said that I am not a dumbass,” Naruto says, his voice progressively getting louder with every word. 

“And?”

“So, stop calling me that!” 

“I—” 

“Bonehead! Dumbass! Loser! Why don’t you just call me ‘Naruto’ for once?”

“Then why don’t you stop playing the hero?” Sasuke says. “Always asserting your own decisions without any care for the opinion of others. Remember that time when you broke Itachi’s measuring cup?”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“The first thing you did was run out the front door to buy a new one, leaving me and Itach’ to clean up your mess. You didn’t use any thought. No, it was only action for you.”

“I did that because it’s only right to replace what you break.”

“Yeah, I mean, you did break the vial, so it’s only natural that you get to play the hero and save the day, too.”

“Sasuke!” Kakashi barks. “That’s enough!”

“What?” Naruto mutters.

“The antidote vial in your medicine box: It was broken. We could have avoided this entire mess if you weren’t a dumbass.”

Naruto sputters. “I… But…”

Naruto abruptly stands up and storms out of the restaurant like a raging torrent. Kakashi shoots Sasuke a look before getting up as well to chase after the blond. 

The remaining three sit at the table in a tense silence until Karin clears her throat. “Sasuke, your okonomiyaki is burning.”

“Yeah,” Sasuke says while staring at it. “It is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New Year's Resolution, back to weekly updates... Maybe.. Probably. Hopefully. Okay, we'll see how long this lasts lol (no but actually though, I think I'll be able to do it). 
> 
> Anyways, the next chapter will be posted New Year's Day, cause what better way to start the new year than Naruto fanfiction, amirite?


	8. The Calm Before the Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, on this chapter and all other chapters (barring chapter one because I'm skipping that one), I added something like primary source documents on the top of each chapter. When I initially thought of the idea, I was thinking of making them something like "Sasuke's Reading List", but I don't know if that would make the fic feel too Sasuke-centric... so yeah. Anyways, feel free to let me know if you like the idea, hate it, or find the pieces boring or something.

> When I married the love of my life, my life was supposed to be perfect. So why did it it all end in disaster? Was it even worth it? The Stone was my home for so so long and yet I killed ane stone ninja after another, all because of love. I betrayed my homeland and family just so I can be with the woman I love. How cruel fate is? I still remember the look on ny brother’s face when I left home. We grew up together yet we ended up on opposite sides of this blasted war. There are no rules in love and war but damn there is punishment. 
> 
> We fought so much when we were younger but this is the one time that victory has tasted so bitter. How will you ever forgive me? I’m so sorry, brother.  
>  \--An entry by a Leaf ninja, who immigrated from the Stone, in “Journals of the Third War”, read as material for the Academy’s literature classes 

\---

Naruto’s feet thunder down the road until he eventually finds a lull alleyway to duck into. He rushes in and leans his forehead against the wall with a _clink_ as the metal part of his headband hits stone. He catches some movement out of the corner of his eye and glances down to find a frog and salamander fighting or something. 

He chuckles to himself at the absurdity of the situation—momentarily forgetting about his current problems—before the frog's tongue shoots out of its mouth, sticks to the salamander, and gobbles the entire thing in one gulp. Naruto’s lips part slightly as the frog hops away without a care in the world, and just like that, everything comes flooding back into his head.

On one hand, it was so, so stupid of him to just carelessly drop the medicine box onto the ground; it was the objective of their entire mission after all. The mission that was directly assigned to them by his own dad, no less. On the other hand, their literal _lives_ were being threatened. A part of Naruto’s brain actually believed that they were going to _die_ during that fateful encounter. 

What else was he supposed to do? Just gently set the box down while having shuriken thrown at him? No, of course their lives would take priority. It just happened to be an unfortunate situation, right?

Naruto flinches when the sudden weight of a hand descends on his shoulder. He snaps his eyes shut, just wanting to disappear, and clenches his fist so hard that he wouldn’t be surprised if he pierces skin; he probably wouldn’t even feel it anyways. He can’t feel much of anything really. 

“Naruto,” Kakashi mutters. “These things happen.”

“But it shouldn’t have!” Naruto bursts, twisting his body to face his teacher, unsure if he’s referring to the antidote vial or Sasuke. 

“No, but it did, and we got through it.”

Now that he really listens to it, Kakashi’s voice is really soothing, but there is still dissonance to the sound of Kakashi’s words and the words themselves.

“But, why? Why did it even happen, y’know?” Naruto whispers. 

He doesn’t even mean to whisper; the words just come out softer than intended. Kakashi’s reply is the only thing telling Naruto that he really said something in the first place. 

“Because…” Kakashi says, pausing dramatically. “We are shinobi. It’s not a forgiving profession, but we live our lives as ninja anyway.”

Naruto nods his head but isn’t completely satisfied. Of course they are shinobi; if not shinobi, then what would they be? If being a shinobi wasn’t an option, then what would Naruto be? The funny thing is that it’s a trick question. Naruto and Ninjahood are so interwoven, that if he wasn’t a ninja, he wouldn’t even be Naruto. All four of his parents were and are ninja; both of his brothers adorn the Hidden Leaf hitai-ate on their foreheads more often than they even wear jackets. 

No matter how unforgiving, how tumultuous, how heartbreaking, Naruto will always be a shinobi. Through thick and thin, wide and narrow, Naruto will always be a shinobi. Whether he remains an eternal genin or catapults into the title of Hokage, Naruto will always be a shinobi. 

Kakashi sighs, runs a hand through his silver hair, and bends down so that they are eye-level with each other. The man captures Naruto’s eyes in an almost dizzying gaze, and the rawness of staring directly into his mentor’s eyes doesn’t escape Naruto. 

“That’s why we are a team, Naruto,” Kakashi says. “We are Team 7 so that our unforgiving profession can be just a little more forgiving.”

“But—”

“We are a team, Naruto, so that we can make up for each other’s mistakes. He said it way too harshly, but Sasuke does have a point. And I want you to think long and hard about what he said and why he said it.”

Naruto opens his mouth but says nothing. The words die in his throat as soon as he’s given an opportunity to release them, so he just snaps his mouth shut and nods his head.

Kakashi nods his head too and begins walking away, with Naruto following in tow. 

\---

Sasuke plays with the burnt okonomiyaki on his plate with his chopsticks, stabbing little holes into it. Karin and Sakura split Kakashi’s savory pancake while Naruto’s okonomiyaki hums on the griddle under Sasuke’s careful supervision. He already burnt one, and by the Gods, he will not allow another to be sullied.

He’s about to stab his okonomiyaki one last time when Karin grabs his arm, his unguarded and unprotected arm. 

“Stop that!” Karin says. “You already burned it, so just let it wallow in its own misery by itself.”

“Don’t tell me what to do,” Sasuke mutters, even though his hands obediently set down the chopsticks. 

Sasuke squirts some sauce on Naruto’s okonomiyaki, grabs the spatula, and gently sets it on his plate in a flurry of practiced movements. Itachi absorbed their mom’s baking skills, Sasuke absorbed her cooking skills, and Naruto, interestingly enough, was best adapted to learn her cleaning skills. It was only after convincing him that washing kitchen knives was the same thing as washing kunai did his skills awaken, and the way that Naruto’s brain works truly boggles Sasuke’s mind sometimes. 

“I don’t blame Naruto, y’know,” Sakura says. 

Sasuke flicks his eyes up, meeting green eyes glowing with fervor. “And?”

Sakura runs a hand through her hair and sighs. “If you were better at communication, then you would’ve definitely beat Ino for top of our class.”

Sasuke rolls his eyes as he puts a piece of his pancake in his mouth. Honestly, it still pisses him off that Ino of all people outranked him in the Academy by the time of their graduation. He found it a little amusing, however, seeing Sakura basically foaming at the mouth when the result was announced. 

“I have no need for such a frivolous title.”

“How about a less frivolous one?” Karin asks. “Like Captain Jackass.”

Sasuke growls like a bear. 

“Karin!” Sakura says, shaking her head. “Not helping.”

“Maybe not,” Karin says. “But it’s the truth.”

“Oh, shut up. You don’t know the situation.”

Karin stuffs some food in her mouth. “And that’s precisely why my opinion is the most valuable. Besides, being an asshole doesn’t need any context.”

Sasuke moves to stand up, but he stills when he catches notice of Sakura’s glare. It’s intensity reminds him of his mom’s notorious glare, so he gently settles back into his seat, crossing his arms. 

Sakura stands from her seat, places her hands on the table and leans forward. “First off, Karin, you are _not_ helping.”

The redhead doesn’t even blink. 

“And Sasuke,” Sakura continues. “You _were_ too harsh with Naruto. He means well, and you know that better than anyone.”

Karin makes a face. “From what I’ve seen, I don’t think there’s a planet where Captain Jackass over here would know Naruto better than anyone.” 

Sasuke bangs a fist on the table. “Your quips aren’t funny.”

“Oh? I think I’m hilarious.” 

Sasuke busies his hands by pouring himself a cup of tea. As he sips his tea, he sucks in a gulp of air along with it to ease the heat. Tea is best enjoyed when it’s scalding, and Sasuke almost gags whenever he sees a certain blond chug down lukewarm tea. He sinks his head under the guise of his high collar and just savors the aroma and tang of his scalding beverage. 

His relaxation is interrupted too soon when he feels eyes still trained on him like a hawk. 

“What?” Sasuke says. 

Unexpectedly, instead of snapping back with the force of stretched elastic, Karin relaxes her posture and finally looks away. “You’re weird.”

“What are—”

“Your chakra, I mean. There’s a… dissonance between your body and chakra. Whenever you appear angry or start yelling, your chakra remains cool and mellow. Almost like you don’t actually mean what you say or do.”

Sasuke pops his head out from under his collar. Karin has shrunken back into her seat, and she’s twiddling her thumbs. Sakura watches her, her lips parted slightly, and it reminds Sasuke of discreetly glancing at her side profile back during their Academy days whenever a lecture got too boring or repetitive. 

Sasuke opens his mouth to clapback, but the words die in his throat when Karin snaps her eyes up, looking at him directly in challenge. Her cheeks burn a brilliant red, matching her hair, and then randomly, even after spending this entire morning with Karin, Sasuke sees it; the image on the altar in the Uchiha compound’s tatami mat room. Karin’s brilliant red hair reminds Sasuke of the portrait that he’s passed by hundreds of times. The portrait of Naruto’s mom—his birth mom.

“Uzumaki Kushina,” Sasuke says. 

Sakura tilts her head to the side. “Who?”

“Naruto’s birth mom, but don’t worry about it. I was just thinking out loud.” 

Karin clicks her tongue, cheeks still a shade of red. “Are you two dating or something? Captain Jackass’s chakra always feels so… flowery when he talks to you.”

“No!” they both say at the same time, in perfect unison. 

Karin laughs. “Oh, and now your chakra is becoming warmer.” 

“Your cheeks are becoming warmer, too, Sasuke,” Sakura says with a smirk.

Sasuke sinks his head below his collar even though he can feel it making his cheeks even warmer. “How do you know what my chakra feels like anyways?”

Karin shrugs her shoulders. “My secret.”

The three of them sit at the restaurant table for a few more hours, just simply enjoying themselves with after meal conversation and enough tea that will surely keep them up at night. Loath as he is to admit, Sasuke actually quite appreciates just being able to relish in spending time with people his age, the stress of the mission behind them. Of course, he does his best to ignore it, but the pang of a missing blond boy still clenches at his heart.

Eventually though, the owners get fed up with them and kick them out. Sasuke and Sakura scramble trying to grab all of their bags and belongings while Karin just laughs as she strolls out without a care in the world. Sasuke clicks his tongue when Sakura snatches Kakashi’s bag before he can, leaving him with, yet again, carrying the backpack—a heavy bag at that—of a certain blond. 

Sakura smirks before dashing after Karin, abandoning Sasuke to pay the entirety of the bill. His jaw drops when he sees the price and resolutes himself to making damn sure that Kakashi reimburses him later. 

He trudges after the two girls waiting for him and grunts when Karin says, “Thanks for the meal!” before skipping away with a wave. 

“Bye, Karin!” Sakura says, familiarity dripping with the words. 

A couple moments later, Sasuke and Sakura are just standing in front of the restaurant with their arms and shoulders full of bags and belongings. 

“I—” Sakura says.

“Are—” Sasuke says at the same time. 

Sakura smiles. “You first.”

“Nothing. You go.”

Sakura takes a deep breath and gazes up at the clear blue sky. “I… thought about my answer. My answer about why I’m a ninja.” 

Sasuke blinks, but doesn’t say anything. It’s almost like a painting: the passing Grass citizens behind Sakura blur the background with movement and truly make her the focal point in Sasuke’s mind. 

“I want to be strong,” Sakura says. “I thought about it when I was passed out, and I think I know why my parents are still genin: They don’t even want to be shinobi.” 

The words hit Sasuke with the force of a rampaging bear. But Sakura doesn’t seem to notice and keeps on talking. 

“I want to be strong enough and successful enough as a ninja to let them have peace of mind and finally retire. You know, they didn’t even want me to go to the Academy; it was Ino that convinced me. But I want to let my parents spend the rest of their lives doing something that they actually enjoy. I have this vague memory of when I was younger about my papa talking about owning a store in the shopping district one day. What would they even sell? I don’t know. But I want to be a daughter that is successful enough to let them follow their dreams. It’s pretty selfish, isn’t it?”

Sasuke shakes his head without even thinking about the action. “Being selfless is overrated. He… Naruto is an anomaly. I mean, who else spews on and on about being Hokage one day? Ino? Kiba? Ino’s reasoning is selfish anyways. Those three idio… Those three are the exception; nobody in their right mind would actually want to be Hokage.”

Sakura hums. “Still, it feels kind of icky being selfish like this.”

The two of them start walking around for a while. They walk without aim, until they eventually find the inn that Kakashi told him that they were going to stay at when they were walking to Karin’s house. Sasuke rents out two rooms under Kakashi’s name, telling the receptionist that it’s okay to give a key to a silver-haired ninja, and hands a key to Sakura. 

They part ways without much fanfare, and Sasuke snuggles up into a corner with a book in his hands. He barely even realizes his eyelids drooping over his eyes before darkness settles in. 

\---

Naruto and Kakashi walk towards the edge of the village and into the bamboo forest surrounding it. Kakashi sits down on a rock and nods his head towards the ground while crossing one leg over the other before setting his elbow on his thigh and resting his chin in his palm. 

Naruto sits down criss-crossed in front of him and rocks his body slightly, waiting for his teacher to say something, and Kakashi closes his visible eye. 

“What—”

Kakashi shushes to interrupt him, placing a finger in front of his mask. Naruto rolls his eyes and tilts his head up to look at the sky. After a few seconds, hairs stand up on the back of his neck as he feels eyes on him. 

Naruto jerks his eyes back down from the sky and withholds a scream when they lock with black marbles. The panda, which looks to be a dozen yards in front of him and behind his teacher, stares back into his very soul as it chews on a bamboo stick much like a kid chewing on sugarcane. 

“The Hidden Grass is famous for their wild panda,” Kakashi says, still not opening his eyes. “It’s not everyday that you can encounter them up close like this.”

Naruto opens his mouth in wonder as he feels something nudge his arm. His jaw drops even wider as he looks down to find a panda cub looking up at him innocently, looking like some sentient stuffed animal. 

“You know,” Kakashi says, finally opening his eye. “Pandas have a very strong jaw. Try not to get bitten, okay?”

“Then why—”

“Is that you, Kakashi?” a deep, baritone voice rings out. 

“Sure.”

The voice lets out a gnarly laugh, and an enormous panda emerges from seemingly out of nowhere. “What has it been? Nearly 10 years?”

Kakashi lifts his head from out of his palm. “About. I haven’t seen you since the end of the Third War.”

The panda lets out another laugh. “You humans and your silly wars. All you need are your bear-necessities. And who is this human? He looks like—”

“This is my subordinate. Masato, this is Naruto. Naruto, this is Masato.”

The panda, Masato, walks over next to Naruto and falls back on his behind to sit down. He’s just as big as Kakashi and has unsettlingly wise eyes. Naruto rubs the back of his neck, avoiding eye contact with the bear. The baby panda that was nudging against his arms wiggles itself onto Naruto’s lap, causing Naruto to exhale in surprise. 

“How are the other three that were on your team?”

“They’re in a better place now,” Kakashi says. 

“I see.” 

Naruto lifts a gentle hand and sets it on the panda cub’s back, causing it to mew. The noise that it makes squeezes Naruto’s heart, belatedly making him realize that he has three eyes trained on him like hawks. 

“Looks like Take is taking a liking to you, Naruto.”

Naruto rubs the back of his neck with his free hand. “I guess he is.”

“Well then,” Masato says while getting up. “I imagine that there’s a reason for you coming here, Kakashi?” 

“Is there anything wrong with just coming to say ‘hello’?”

“Well, no. But if you’ve come all this way, then there surely must be something that I can do.”

“If you insist,” Kakashi says, “then I would really appreciate it if you could teach Naruto how to meditate. I hate to admit it, but I’m not the best at the practice myself.”

“Meditation, you say?”

Kakashi nods, and Masato laughs.

“Then you’ve come to the right panda! I love nothing better than just sitting around and doing nothing!”

“Sitting around and doing nothing,” Naruto complains. 

“Of course!” Masato says. “Let us begin doing nothing!”

Kakashi gets up from his rock and grabs Take from Naruto’s lap. When he’s secured safely in Kakashi’s arms, Take mews, and Naruto’s jaw drops for the thousandth time when Kakashi mews back at the panda cub. Kakashi lies down on his stomach on the rock and starts playing with Take just as Masato walks in front of the scene, obscuring Naruto’s view. 

Masato sits back down on his bottom with his legs splayed out in front of him and grins at Naruto. “Naruto, I want you to close your eyes and just _feel_. Don’t think, just feel.”

Naruto rolls his eyes before obeying his new panda sensei and closes them shut. Immediately, the image of Sasuke at the okonomiyaki restaurant takes over his conscience. He then feels a stick wack at his arm, causing him to wince and open his eyes. 

“What was that for?!”

Masato has his own eyes closed, and to Naruto’s surprise, looks like he hasn’t moved a paw. 

“Stop thinking!” Masato says. “Sheesh, I can feel your thoughts from here.”

Naruto grumbles but closes his eyes again, this time actually trying to follow the panda’s advice. He thinks about nothingness and just feels. He feels the breeze brush against the back of his neck. He feels the leaf tickle the small part of exposed skin just above his socks. He feels the stress on his shoulders and slouch in his posture. 

Naruto sits up right and feels alleviated. 

“Now,” Masato says. “I want you to think. Don’t force it, just let your mind wander.”

Naruto thinks about the time he accidentally broke Itachi’s measuring cup and then running out the door to find a new one and then coming back home to find Itachi smiling at him with a forced smile and then he thinks about Sasuke and then he thinks about their Academy days when his brother always hung out with Sakura and Hinata and then he thinks about the look on Sasuke’s face when Sakura got poisoned and then he thinks about the broken medicine bottle and then he thinks about Karin giving Sakura the antidote and then he really thinks about how easily Sakura could’ve died and then he thinks about what Sakura’s dead face would look like. 

Naruto snaps his eyes open and is met with Masato’s black marbles for eyes. The panda reaches out a paw and rubs Naruto’s cheek with the back of it, the fur slightly tickling the sensitive skin. Naruto reaches up his right hand to rub at his other cheek and is surprised to find his hand wet. 

“That’s not the normal reaction to meditation,” Masato says. “But it’s not a wrong one either.” 

Kakashi’s body pops out behind Masato. He still has Take snuggling in his arms and he crouches down to be at eye level with Naruto and Masato. 

“You did what you could, Naruto. If anything, it’s my fault as Team 7’s sensei for placing you guys in that precarious situation. I’m sorry.”

Naruto shakes his head. “Kakashi-sensei, Panda-sensei, can I just… stay here for a bit?”

Both of them nod their heads, and Naruto closes his eyes again. For once in his life, he enjoys doing nothing. Maybe being a panda wouldn’t be so bad, huh?

\---

When Naruto next opens his eyes, the sun is already low in the sky. Masato isn’t in front of him anymore and Kakashi is sitting back on his rock playing peek-a-boo with Take. 

“Kakashi-sensei?”

Kakashi jumps a couple inches in the air from his sitting position and rubs the back of his neck. “You ready to go back, Naruto?” 

“Um, yeah. This was good. This was good, y’know.”

“I’m glad that you enjoyed it,” Masato says, again appearing out of seemingly nowhere. 

“Well, then,” Kakashi says. “Farewell, Masato, Take.”

“Yes, goodbye, Kakashi. Bye, Minato.”

Naruto follows Kakashi out of the forest, which takes a while because they have to keep running back after Take tries to follow them out, and then they step back into the Hidden Grass. Naruto opens his mouth, but Kakashi beats him to the chase. 

“I already told Sasuke which inn we’re going to stay at. It’s not too far.”

Naruto nods his head, and the walk to the inn is filled with a comfortable silence. Naruto walks on autopilot until he’s met with an inn room door and wishes Kakashi a goodnight. Naruto opens the door and raises an eyebrow when he spots Sasuke curled up in a corner with his knees pressed up against his chest. 

Naruto smiles as he opens up a closet door and pulls out two futons. He sets one up right next to Sasuke and another one a little ways away. Channeling every bit of discreteness and finesse that his body can muster, Naruto moves and unfurls Sasuke’s body so that he’s in a sleeping position of a real person. 

Naruto throws a blanket over his brother, not going so far as to actually _tuck him in_ and picks up the book that was next to Sasuke. Naruto places a bookmark in the open page, gently closes it, and places it right next to Sasuke’s backpack, knowing how organized Sasuke likes to be. 

Naruto settles into his own futon and rolls over in the direction not facing Sasuke. 

However, he peers over his shoulder and whispers, “Good night, Sasuke,” before closing his eyes and letting the state of sleep take over his conscience. 

\---

Little do the sleeping citizens and visitors of the Hidden Grass know, however, that—without even a single cloud in the sky—it’s going to Rain in the morning.


	9. Too Much Rain Can Kill Bamboo

> My friends, I intend to create a village where peace is not only attainable, but prefered. And I ask that you join me in this endeavor.  
>  —Hanzo the Salamander’s Inaugural Address as the Hidden Rain Leader, full length

\---

There’s an age old question in the Shinobi World: How many ninja would it take to seize a hidden village? History shows that taking a castle could take as many as one to a thousand shinobi, but nobody in their right mind has ever taken a hidden village. 

Even after three Great Wars, the map always ultimately returns to the status quo. While some borders may shift a foot or two due to greedy daimyos, generally, the map of the Shinobi World has remained unchanged for generations since Senju Hashirama’s grand proposal that terminated the Warring States Era and commenced the Hidden Village Era. The major villages, especially Hashirama’s Hidden Leaf, tend to dominate, while the minor villages are expected to kneel before them.

But now, Hanzo of the Salamander has an ambition to change that. An ambition to morph a march of shame stemming from a humiliating defeat into a raging path of a conqueror. Hanzo will make those damn Akatsuki brats wish he destroyed their group all those years ago. If only he hadn’t been so timid, and crushed their organization all those years ago, bringing the village safely under his thumb. 

“Boss, we should be approaching the Hidden Grass shortly,” Kandachi, Hanzo’s right hand man, says. 

“Good,” Hanzo says, his mask making him more menacing than he feels. “Make sure everybody is ready for combat. We cannot waste this opportunity.”

Kandachi bows. “Yessir!”

The towering bamboo all around him makes Hanzo’s cheek itch. How he already misses the musk and clang of metal. 

\---

Sasuke opens his eyes and is surprised to see the ceiling. He could’ve sworn he fell asleep cocooned in a corner, but the futon under him obviously says otherwise. Sasuke sits up, and nearly jumps when he sees electric blue eyes staring at him from across the room. 

“Mornin’,” Naruto says. 

“Yeah,” Sasuke says. “Good morning.”

“I—” they both say at the same time before shrinking into their respective sides of the room. 

“You first,” Naruto says. 

“I…” Sasuke says. “I’m sorry, Naruto.”

Sasuke has to admit that the word feels weird on his tongue, almost foreign. Naruto. When was the last time he even addressed his brother by his real name?

Naruto looks taken aback. “Yeah, me too, Sasuke.”

They sit in silence until they hear a knock at the door and Kakashi calling for them to get ready. 

\---

Kakashi opens his eyes and stares at the inn room ceiling with his comforter tucked right up to his cheek. He truly can’t remember the last time he had… so much drama on a mission. If anything, Tenzo and Itachi were the antithesis of drama; they always did anything in their power to avoid stepping on their squadmates’ toes—with the exception of Kakashi’s. 

Despite this, his Anbu squad was amazingly dramaless, and then his squad before that… oh. 

Kakashi sits upright on his futon and brings his knees up against his chest. He and Sakura have their own rooms while he shoved the two brothers into a shared one to save a quick buck and hopefully help them mend their issues, emphasis on hopefully. 

Kakashi also can’t remember the last time he’s had so much _stress_ on a mission. When he was an Anbu Captain, he had the privilege of forcing his subordinates to do whatever he didn’t want to do himself. But now that his team consists solely of eleven year olds, that way of doing things just feels wrong; it feels like child abuse even if they’re already fully pledge shinobi. 

From the way they act to the way they look, Kakashi can’t help but feel like he’s some Academy teacher watching over their recess. This one mission alone makes the fact crystal clear: Sasuke and Naruto are not Itachi. Itachi was the same age as his two brothers when the Uchiha was assigned to Kakashi’s squad, but the boy’s maturity could be felt from a mile away. 

And while he would’ve had no qualms sending an Anbu member to go ahead of the team, sending Naruto alone like that makes him feel like a failure of a mentor. And, if he had his Anbu squad, he would’ve totally sent somebody to deliver all four medicine boxes after entering the village proper while he got ice cream, but he just couldn’t fathom sending Sasuke alone like that. 

And then there’s Sakura. With his Anbu team, getting injured is part of the job. But with Sakura, he almost feels like he failed as a parent letting her get injured like that. Which is stupid, because he’s _not_ their parent and shouldn’t have any issues with them doing their job. 

Kakashi warned himself not to get attached, but by the Sage, he’s already in too deep, and it’s only been one mission. One mission! 

For his own sanity’s sake he truly hopes that Natsu and the rest of their friends get just as invested in their students as he is. Guy has already taken to being a jonin mentor, and Kakashi rolls his eyes at how excited his friend was when he told him that he took on a genin team. Kakashi doesn’t want to burden his team with something so stupid, but dammit, he wants them to grow stronger than Guy’s squad. They’re evenly matched in their challenges and Kakashi will not allow his squad to tip the scale out of his favor. 

Other than that childish competition, however, Kakashi truly has the feeling that this generation is something special. Not only do they have the pedigree, from what Kakashi saw on Team Assignment Day, they seem to have the banter and camaraderie to be special. Kakashi just hopes he lives long enough to see his hopes come to fruition.

Kakashi stretches his hands high above his head and shivers when a draft hits the exposed skin just above his waist and below his raised shirt. He pats his hair and smacks his lips, which is something he doesn’t get to do often, when he feels that it’s completely flat. He gets up and looks out the window, subconsciously covering his mouth with his hand, and senses something… off about today. 

It may be superstitious, but the atmosphere of the village feels tense, almost like it's anticipating for something to happen. Kakashi rushes to get dressed; something feels wrong. The way the birds circle the sky and the sudden movement of the clouds tell Kakashi to flee the Hidden Grass as soon as humanly possible, maybe even faster than that. 

Kakashi pulls his mask over his lips, slips on his jonin vest, and ties on his hitai-ate before quickly grabbing his backpack and rushing out the door. He knocks on Sakura’s door, tells her to get ready to leave, and then knocks on the boys’ door to tell them the same. He paces back and forth in the hallway until he has three drowsy kids by his side. 

“It’s sooooo early, Sensei,” Naruto slurs. “Can’t we leave in a few hours?” 

Kakashi shakes his head, his floppy hair swinging side to side. “We need to leave now. In fact, we should’ve left hours ago.”

Kakashi starts walking away, satisfied when he hears the pitter-patter of footsteps behind him. Kakashi storms down the hallway, confident that his students are following him, and tosses his room key to the surprised receptionist with the casualness of a father throwing a ball to his son; not that he has much experience of that anyways. 

Kakashi opens the door and purses his lips under his mask when he sees the stream of people and a sudden downpour flooding the street. People are panicking as none of them are equipped for rainy weather. He steps out onto the street and makes haste as he starts walking. Passerbys bump into him, but Kakashi just keeps his consciousness on his belongings as he takes everything in stride, uncaring as his silver hair dampens and becomes completely flat from the rain.

It's only at the village entrance does he realize that he's alone. Why did he bother taking on a genin team?

\--- 

"Seriously?" Sakura asks as she both loses sight of their teacher and grabs onto Naruto’s sleeve before he can run back to his room. "Didn't you double check everything before leaving?"

"Sakura," Naruto whines. "I did double check… just now, y'know."

Sakura raises an unimpressed eyebrow as Sasuke pinches the bridge of his nose.

"Well, go get it!" Sasuke barks. "We have to wait here anyways."

Naruto passes them a smile as he runs back to his room to grab the spare jacket that he forgot. Why it was out of his bag in the first place, is beyond Sasuke's imagination. 

"Why do we need to leave so early anyways?" Sakura asks.

Sasuke yawns into his mouth. "Mmm. Probably some Anbu habit or something."

"The way he acts makes me forget he was an Anbu captain sometimes."

Sasuke nods his head but doesn’t respond.

Anbu are supposed to be the most feared shinobi in the village. Not because of brute force or power, but because of their focus on assassinations and espionage. Sasuke remembers overhearing about the time Orochimaru killed Danzo, the previous Anbu Commander, because the latter was planning a coup d'etat. It was apparently swept under the rug, but Sasuke can't close his ears; sometimes, if his house is quiet enough, he can hear village officials conversing with his dad in the tatami mat room.

For the past decade, the Third Hokage has held the position of Anbu Commander, but there's been rumors flying around that the job will be offered to Kakashi or even Itachi in the coming years. Granted, there's been rumors about Sasuke's father resigning, but Sasuke knows that his father’s not relinquishing the hat anytime soon.

Naruto's stomps snap Sasuke out of his thoughts. 

"Okay, I got it! Kakashi-sensei isn't back yet?"

Sakura starts twiddling her thumbs, something that she always does when she's nervous. She looks to Sasuke, and he shrinks back.

"Don't look at me. I don't know what to do either."

"Then," Naruto says, "we should go looking for him, y'know."

Sasuke nods his head, not exactly opposed to the idea. "Sure."

The three of them leave the inn, and Sasuke clicks his tongue when he sees the absolute flood of people and depressing streams of raindrops in the narrow streets. He sidesteps people, wishing he put on a jacket, while Naruto waltzes down the street like he owns the place. They walk around for a little bit until they find themselves in front of the hospital, and, in an uncanny coincidence, Sasuke makes eye-contact with Karin at the exact same time Naruto hollers to her.

Karin rolls her eyes as she starts walking towards them to meet halfway. 

“What a coincidence,” Sakura says with a smile. 

Karin grimaces. “Sure.”

“Have you seen Kakashi-sensei in the last couple minutes?” Sasuke asks. 

“No.”

Naruto brightens up like a lightbulb, and Sasuke just knows that he’s thought of something. 

“Then do you wanna come help us look for him? It’ll only be a few minutes, y’know.”

Karin harrumphs. “Why would I want to spend my break doing something like that?”

“Because friends are supposed to help each other,” Sasuke challenges, and he smirks when he sees the annoyance in her eyes. 

“Friends?” Naruto says. “I guess we are friends, huh?”

“Anyways,” Sakura says, “we would appreciate your help, but if you’re busy then that’s fine, too!” 

Karin rolls her eyes again, something that she appears to do often. “Five minutes.”

The four of them continue walking until they reach the edge of the village. Sasuke’s about to turn around, but stops when he sees Naruto brushing aside some plants and waving for them to follow. 

Sakura physically recoils when she reaches where Naruto is, and Sasuke, more or less, has the same reaction. Karin’s aloofness also dissipates when she walks over. 

Sasuke regrets wearing the same white pair of shorts that he had on yesterday because the slush of mud in the bamboo forest looks to be devastating to anything white. Sakura eeks when Naruto places a tentative foot on the mud, looking ready to faint when it reaches the ground. However, exceeding all of their expectations, Naruto’s foot stays safely above the mud, and Sasuke realizes that there’s a thin veil of chakra covering Naruto’s sole. 

“Wow, it worked!” Naruto says. “If we do the same chakra thing like with the tree exercise, then we can walk in the forest without getting our shoes dirty.”

Sakura looks less than impressed. “And why would we go into the forest in the first place?”

Naruto grins. “I wanna show you guys something. Besides, Kakashi-sensei might be there, too.”

Sasuke rolls his eyes, unsure if they’ll actually find their teacher in such a random location, but covers his soles in chakra and tiptoes onto the mud as well. Sakura follows, and then all three of them look at Karin expectantly. Only after seeing the girl take a timid step backwards does the thought even occur to Sasuke. 

“Wait,” Sasuke says. “Are you even a ninja, Karin?” 

Karins tsks. “Why would I want to be a ninja?”

Naruto and Sakura make their own noises of surprise, and Sasuke pinches the bridge of his nose. Naruto overcomes his initial surprise, moves his backpack against his chest, and bends his knees a little with his back facing Karin. 

“What are you—”

“It’s really cool,” Naruto says, “so come on!”

Sakura giggles behind her hand and Sasuke cocks an eyebrow when Karin scuffles her feet to Naruto and allows herself to be picked up in a piggyback ride. Her face is bright red, and Sasuke rolls his eyes at his brother's obvious obliviousness. Even he knows that these things need to be dealt with a delicate touch with the opposite sex.

The four of them trudge through the bamboo forest and, even though the bamboo leaves help make the ground less slippery and muddy, Sasuke stays conscious about his chakra control lest he wants to slip and completely embarrass himself. To his side, Sakura is walking and admiring the scenery with her head tilted slightly upward; Sasuke isn’t kidding about her having superb chakra control. 

“What do you even want to show us?” Sakura asks, finally looking back down. 

Naruto snickers. “You’ll see, y’know.”

“I swear if you’re wasting my time…” Karin trails off. 

“We’re almost there. I promise.” 

Naruto stops walking when they make it to a big, flat rock. The blond swivels his head this way and that way until he squints his eyes and purses his lips. 

“There are rocks in the Leaf, Naruto,” Sasuke says. “I can show them to you if you want.”

Naruto blows out a puff of air. “I know that. I’m looking for something else, y’know.” 

Sasuke’s about to tap his foot when he hears a soft murmur. Apparently, Sakura heard the same thing because they look at each other at exactly the same time. Sasuke shushes Naruto, and the four of them stay stalk still for a few seconds before the same murmur can be heard again. Sasuke flicks his eyes all around them until he hears Sakura shriek. 

Sakura’s crouching behind the rock, but when she stands back up, she has a baby panda cuddled in her arms.

“What the—” Sasuke says before being interrupted by Naruto.

“Take! Why were you alone back there? Where’s Panda-sensei?”

Obviously, all the baby panda does is mew back, not giving them any useful information. 

“Care to explain what this is about, Naruto?” Sakura asks. 

“This panda’s name is Take, but there’s also supposed to be a bigger one, too. Like one that can talk, y’know.” 

“Talking pandas,” Karin mutters. “Why did I decide to come with you three?” 

“Well,” Sakura says, “let’s just look for this bigger panda. What’s his name?”

“Uhh… I don’t remember. I just called him Panda-sensei.”

Sasuke smacks his forehead and takes a deep breath. He opens his mouth, but he gets cut off yet again, this time by a gnarly growl. Out of nowhere, a man’s body gets flung into the clearing that they’re standing in, sliding against the leaves covering the forest floor. Karin screams, and Take whimpers as Sakura moves Take onto her back, and Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura jump into a defensive position. 

They form a triangle so that Karin and Take are safely surrounded by them, and so that they can cover as many blind spots as possible. Sasuke whips out two kunai, twirls them around his index fingers, and grips them in the way that is basically muscle memory at this point.

Naruto whispers a loud, “Sorry,” and drops Karin, freeing his hands yet again. He swings his backpack back on his back and pulls out two kunai with Sakura doing much the same. 

A roar pierces Sasuke’s ears as an adult panda enters the clearing as well, and the massive beast jumps and tumbles all about in an effort to seemingly shake off the human clung to his back. Naruto takes a step forward, but he pauses before placing his foot back into position, gritting his teeth so loud that Sasuke can hear it over the rampaging panda and pouring rain. 

Two more human men enter the clearing, but they don’t seem to notice them in favor of the bear. Sasuke’s jaw drops when the two men weave hand signs, and a pillar of earth erupts out of the ground and strikes the panda—with the man still on it—causing the beast to be catapulted right in front of Sasuke. The panda crushes the man, and when the bear gets back up, it’s apparent that the man is unconscious. 

Black marbles of eyes look Sasuke’s way, and the panda opens its mouth, but another pillar of earth strikes the panda, launching it even farther away. 

“Panda-sensei!” Naruto yells as he breaks formation to stand directly next to Sasuke and form a wall between the two men and the panda. Sakura hands the panda cub to Karin, and the redhead rushes over to the panda as Sakura stands on Sasuke’s other side, completing the wall. 

“Who are you guys?!” Naruto yells. 

The two men in front of them, as well as the unconscious one, wear yellow jumpsuits and have respirators on. But the detail that Sasuke hones in on is the symbol on their hitai-ates: four vertical lines, the mark of the Hidden Rain Village. But not only that, they both have horizontal slashes over the esteemed symbol. 

“Who are we? Who are you?!” the man with spiky hair says. 

Naruto laughs. “We are the three that are going to kick your ass, y’know!”

With an unspoken sign of approval, Sasuke weaves the hand signs, forms four balls of lightning in front of him, and launches two to each Rain shinobi. Instead of dodging, however, they sink into the ground with what appears to be an Earth Style jutsu. With a glance, Sasuke sees Naruto place his fingers in a cross, and he yells, “Shadow Clone Jutsu!” 

A dozen or so Narutos appear as hundreds of copies of the Rain ninja pop up out of the ground.

“What the…” Naruto mutters. 

Two of the Naruto clones attack the Rain clones, but the Narutos phase through them, not even dispelling the jutsu. 

“Sharingan,” Sasuke mutters.

With his new vision, Sasuke realizes that the chakra flows of some of the Rain shinobi look _off_ to say the least. Then he looks to his teammates and realizes that their chakra networks look off, too. 

“Genjutsu,” Sasuke says. “Half of them are the product of a genjutsu.”

“Release!” Sasuke and Sakura say at the same time.

Half of the enemy clones immediately disappear, confirming his theory. 

“Um…” Naruto says. 

Sakura rolls her eyes and places two fingers on the blond’s forehead. “Release!”

“Thanks, Sakura!” 

Even with half of the clones gone, there are still at least 50 Rain clones. With his Sharingan still activated, Sasuke’s eye twitches slightly when the Naruto clones _still_ phase through the Rain clones. Sasuke flicks his eyes this way and that way, trying to solve the mystery. They can’t be corporeal like Shadow Clones, and they’re obviously not the product of genjutsu. 

As the Naruto clones continue fighting the Rain clones, the real Naruto fidgets in place. Sasuke’s about to tell him off for closing his eyes, but the deep breath exhibited from the blond stops him. Naruto’s eyes snap open, and even Sakura looks stunned at the tranquil look on his face.

“Okay, guys,” Naruto says, “how do you think we can defeat them?”

Sakura hums. “We might be able to do it with sheer numbers? Two of the clones have to be real and able to be hit, right?”

The Naruto clones continue attacking the Rain clones and accomplishing nothing. 

Sasuke deactivates his Sharingan and says, “Naruto, try grouping them in one place.”

Naruto mock salutes. “Yessir!”

The Naruto clones gather about half of the Rain clones near the center of the clearing, so Sasuke weaves the familiar hand signs, thinks _Katon: Fireball Jutsu!_ , pinches his index and thumb in front of his lips, and launches the biggest fireball he can muster towards the group—satisfied when they disappear with a _poof_. 

Sasuke grins as Sakura chucks three kunai with paper bombs at the remaining Rain clones and activates them at the same time, dispelling the rest of the Rain clones with a rumble. It’s music to Sasuke’s ears when he feels Naruto jump behind them and kick two unsuspecting shinobi who just happened to pop out of the ground. Two of Naruto’s Shadow Clones hold the Rain shinobi hostage while the real Naruto knocks them out completely. 

Sasuke releases a sigh of relief before running to where the pandas and Karin are. The adult panda is lying on the ground while the panda cub is secured in Karin’s arms. 

\--- 

“Panda-sensei!” Naruto yells, scrambling to his side. 

“Na… ru… to,” the panda says in a pained breath. 

Naruto crouches down next to the panda, taking in his limp form. 24 hours. They only met nearly 24 hours ago. 

Karins tsks before handing the mewing cub to Sakura as she rolls up her sleeve, revealing an arm completely covered with bite marks. “Bite.”

The panda shakes its head. “I… can’t. I… already told you. My jaw… is too strong.”

“Then we’ll get help!” Naruto says. “Just wait for us!”

As Naruto gets up from his crouching position, the panda reaches a paw out and touches his arm. “No… It’s too late… I was watching though… Minato would be proud.”

Naruto blinks, unable to compute. Minato? His dad? 

Naruto’s thoughts, however, die out as the panda puts an arm up and gestures for Sakura to come closer to it. She complies, and the adult panda sets a gentle paw on top of the panda cub’s head. 

“Please… take care of… Take. I… love...” but the panda’s words peeter out, making the phrase just that much louder.

Naruto falls to his knees as the panda lowers its arm and closes his eyes. 

Naruto barely notices the way Sasuke’s knees hit the ground, too. The way Sakura wipes at Sasuke’s cheek. The way Karin pats Naruto’s shoulder. The way Sakura drags all four of them into a group hug. The way Sakura and Karin break down into sobs. The way Take’s cries get louder and louder, to the point it subdues even the heavy downpour.

The way tears dribble down Naruto’s cheeks, becoming indistinguishable from the pouring rain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was kind of awkward to add in the chapter itself, but the reason Danzo and Hanzo didn't collaborate to crush the Akatsuki was because Orochimaru acted as a check against Danzo's power (don't get me wrong though, Danzo still did some messed up stuff).


	10. Fighting is an Art

> When you think of art, your mind probably wanders to paintings, music, or even literature. But what people don’t realize is that the human form is an art, too. Dance, sport, and—as the name suggests—the martial arts are all mediums to demonstrate the beauty of the human form. Art is a way to express oneself, and all truly great shinobi are artists.  
>  — _The Art of Combat_ , textbook and Academy reading material, introduction

\--- 

It’s dark. His head hurts. And he may or may not have a hangover. 

A large burp erupts out of Jiraiya's throat, causing his pounding headache to deepen even further as he leans back farther into the cushiony couch. He brings both hands up to his temples to massage them in circular motions.

Last night (or this morning? honestly, who cares) was wild to say the least. Jiraiya can’t remember, which is probably more so from the booze than length of time, the last time he drank so much and had so much fun at one of these cabaret clubs. 

Jiraiya’s hand meanders down towards his pocket, and his eyes snap open. He pats down his entire body but still can’t find the item of interest. Where’s his wallet?

And now that he thinks about it, where is everybody? Jiraiya scans the room, and instead of finding pretty ladies and lonely guys (not that he himself is lonely), there isn’t another soul in the room. Jiraiya hunkers his body out of his seat and scours all of the other booths in the establishment as his eyes quickly adjust to the dark. Empty. Empty. Empty. 

Jiraiya grabs his scroll and raises an eyebrow at the sound of pouring rain coming from outside, swearing that just last night there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. He takes a little peeksy out the window, and his eyes crinkle at the absolute flood of rain coming from the outside world. He places a finger on the window, and sure enough, it's cold, telling him that either he’s living reality or is in a very powerful genjutsu. 

The toad sage turns around to inspect the rest of the establishment before venturing outside.

The total place is a complete mess on a closer inspection. Bottles are laid on their sides, any remnants of liquid already soaked into the carpet and spilled on tables. The stench of alcohol encapsulates the entire room, wafting to and fro. 

Eventually, Jiraiya has seen enough, so he meanders his way back towards the front entrance and swings the door open with the grace of a woman inviting a man into her private quarters. He slyly pops his head into the outside world and gasps at the sight. 

It’s a total warzone. Stalls are flipped or destroyed. Trash cans are at places where trash cans probably wouldn’t be. Store windows are smashed in. Jiraiya can’t believe that he _just_ woke up with all the noise that the commotion probably made. 

He’s about to abort the village entirely and worry about it later when he sees a familiar figure running down the street. A familiar, silver-haired, man who just so happened to be a student of a student. The man jogs down the street, following a pug-like dog who looks as done with life as the man following it. 

Jiraiya steps out of the door fully and puts a hand up in a wave. “Kaka—”

Kakashi doesn’t even stop moving as he grabs Jiraiya’s sleeve and pulls the man along to follow. “Lord Jiraiya! Follow me.” 

As the two men run, following the dog, Jiraiya asks, “Kakashi! Care to explain to me what’s going on?”

“The Hidden Grass was just attacked, Lord Jiraiya. Grass citizens were corralled into the village square. More urgently, however, is that my genin students are missing.” 

“They’re what!?”

Even under the mask, Kakashi’s embarrassed and self-deprecating smile is apparent. 

Kakashi clears his throat. “How did they not capture you though? They must’ve scoured every building three times over.”

“I’m not the master of infiltration for nothing. Even when I’m most vulnerable, my body finds ways to conceal itself.” 

Jiraiya’s bravado, however, masks the confusion he also feels about the whole ordeal. Did they think he was some old man that wasn’t capable of fighting? That or did he accidentally use the Transparency Jutsu in his sleep? Of course it’s the latter, he’s a legendary shinobi after all!

“They’re nearby, Kakashi,” the dog says, chiefly ignoring Jiraiya’s presence and presumably loud thoughts. 

“Good.”

\---

“Huh?” Sasuke asks, flabbergasted. 

“I-It’s the truth! We swear,” one of the Rain shinobi responds. “We thought having a panda summon would give us credit with the boss. We didn’t mean for it t-to die!” 

Sasuke pinches the bridge of his nose while Sakura glares at the shinobi with a look that could kill. The two of them have more or less gotten off of the emotional rollercoaster of watching a panda die before their very own eyes, but Naruto and Karin still haven’t fully recovered. Even Take has grown rather quiet in Sakura’s arms, and Sasuke has to admit that the panda cub looks almost as cute as a kitten. Almost. 

“Anyways,” the other Rain shinobi says. “You won’t get away with this! Soon enough, our comrades will take over the Grass. And then after we take back our home, we’ll go for the Leaf first!” 

“What idiocy,” Sasuke mutters while fully turning to face Sakura and ignoring the Rain idiots.

“Are you really sure we should be waiting here, Sasuke?” 

“Yes. Kakashi-sensei’s a recon expert, so he’ll find us soon enough.” 

Speak of the Sage, and he shall come. Two figures and a dog come out of the nearby foliage, and Sasuke’s eye twitches slightly. The man in the jonin vest is nothing to gawk at, and the dog—while unexpected—isn’t noteworthy either; Kakashi is a recon expert after all. But, the burly man in a kimono with a white lion’s mane brings up certain memories in Sasuke’s mind. 

“Oh,” Jiraiya says. “Kakashi, you didn’t tell me that the Uchiha kid was one of your students.”

Kakashi brings up a hand to the back of his neck. “I didn’t know you knew each other.”

Sasuke clicks his tongue, stepping slightly in front of Sakura. “How could I forget _Pervy Sage_ of the Legendary Sannin?” 

“Of all the things,” Jiraiya says with a grimace, “that you can remember me by, why that? Why not my handsome face or muscular build?” 

“What handsome face?”

“Now, now,” Kakashi says. “That’s no way to talk about one of the greatest authors of our age.” 

Jiraiya lights up instantly. “You’re a fan of my work? You have excellent tastes!” 

“Pervy Sage!” Naruto yells as he walks towards them with Karin. 

“You have the Uzumaki brat on your team, too, Kakashi?” Jiraiya says with a laugh. His expression dampens, however, when Naruto walks directly in front of him. “Why’re your eyes so puffy, kid? Are you that happy to see me?”

Without warning, Naruto wraps his arms around Jiraiya’s waist and digs his face into his chest. The giant of a man sets one hand on the blond’s shoulder and his other hand on top of Naruto’s head. Kakashi shoots Sasuke a glance, but Sasuke just shakes his head, not feeling like he should be the one to break the news of either their history or the dead panda. Instead, Sasuke jerks a thumb back at the two tied up Rain shinobi. Kakashi goes to deal with the enemy ninja, but Sasuke’s eyes never leave the sight in front of him. 

Sakura’s penetrating gaze pierces his attention, so he whispers, “We met Pervy Sage during our Academy years. He was peeping on a women’s bathhouse, so when he introduced himself as the ‘Great Toad Sage’, I put two and two together and called him Pervy Sage. Naruto was… amused to say the least.” 

Sakura hums. “Fitting name.”

“Maybe so,” Sasuke says, “but he’s not part of the Sannin for nothing. Him, Orochimaru, and Tsunade are supposed to be absolute monsters.”

Karin scoffs, unabashedly interrupting their conversation. “This man, a monster? I don’t see it.”

“Whatever the case,” Sasuke says, “we should give them some privacy. It’s been years since Naruto’s last seen the man.” 

The three of them slip away from the duo, and they walk over back to the direction of Kakashi and the two Rain shinobi. Kakashi seems just about done interrogating them, so Sasuke raises a delicate eyebrow in question. 

“We should get back to the Leaf ASAP. This is something bigger than what one genin squad and one member of the Sannin can do alone.”

“But, Sensei,” Sakura says, “what is even happening?”

“A faction of the Hidden Rain is currently in the process of invading the Grass. To be honest, this is a complete failure on the Leaf’s part that we didn’t notice such a large movement of shinobi.”

Karin laughs, but it honestly sounds more like a depressed croak. “What’s even to protect in the Grass anyways? They had it coming.” 

“Isn’t this your home?” Sakura asks. “How can you say that?” 

Karin shakes her head. “What even is ‘home’?”

“Home,” Jiraiya says as he walks towards the group with Naruto, “is a place where someone still thinks of you.”

Karin laughs that ugly not-a-laugh again as she looks up into the ash gray sky. “Then I’m right. This place is not home.”

Jiraiya lifts a hand and dramatically points towards Karin. “You, I’ll talk to you later. But for now, we need to get out of here and report to the village. What the hell is Orochimaru and the old geezer doing? Do we not have a single undercover squad in this area?” 

Sasuke watches with disgusted fascination as Jiraiya summons a toad and has it gulp down the two Rain shinobi. The six of them look at each other one last time before sprinting off into the direction of the Leaf. 

“It’s been a bit of a taboo topic,” Kakashi says, “but the Third certainly isn’t what he used to be anymore.”

“I almost lost every hair on my head and elsewhere when I heard Fugaku picked Sarutobi-sensei to replace Danzo! No offense to you two, Fugaku is still a fantastic Hokage,” Jiraiya says, pointedly glancing at Sasuke and Naruto. “But Sensei’s almost as old as the village itself and led two wars. Kakashi, you should have fought for the job!” 

“One, I was 14. And two, I don’t _want_ to be Anbu Commander! If anything, _you_ should have fought for the job!”

Jiraiya flashes a shit-eating grin. “That’s all in the past. Now is not the time for blame games, Kakashi.” 

“Am I the only one who hates this man?” Karin yells. 

“I’m hurt that you think of me that way, pretty lady. Girls ought to be loving, not hateful.”

“Now I do, too,” Sakura mutters, causing Sasuke to snicker for a half second and not any longer. 

“Anyways,” Naruto says, breaking out of his silent stupor, “we’re still gonna help these people, right? Sensei? Pervy Sage?” 

“Kid, of course we’re gonna help these people. But right now, we need to help ourselves first!” 

Jiraiya turns around and chucks a kunai with a paper bomb behind them. All of the members of the Hidden Leaf party abruptly stop their running and stand on guard. Karin flinches when a gut-wrenching scream erupts from the site of the kunai-bomb blast, and Naruto steps next to her protectively. Sasuke calms his breathing as he activates his Sharingan and notices that they’re completely surrounded. Sakura clutches onto his arm as her other hand gently cradles Take. 

“Well, well, well,” a breathy voice comes from out of the bomb blast, “if it isn’t my past coming to haunt me.”

Jiraiya cackles—actually cackles. “Hanzo! How many years has it been?”

“Not nearly enough, Jiraiya of the Sannin.” The man, Hanzo, jerks his head slightly, and immediately, another shinobi body flickers to his side. “I’m correct, am I not? That blond boy, he’s a jinchuriki.”

“From what I can tell, boss, he does appear to be a jinchuriki.”

“How the times have changed. And here I thought that the Leaf doesn’t use their jinchuriki for combat.”

Naruto, losing some of his bravado, shrinks behind Jiraiya as Karin shrinks further behind Naruto. 

Jiraiya growls. “I love a good age difference myself, but old men shouldn’t be interested in boys, Hanzo. Leave the young boys to the young girls.” 

“Obviously it’s not the boy I want, but what he contains. I’m surprised you still have it out in the open like this despite what happened nearly a decade ago.” Hanzo lifts a finger and points directly towards Naruto. “If it were up to me, I would’ve kept that thing locked in a basement, never to see sunlight again.” 

Now Naruto growls. “As if I would let that happen, y’know.” 

“Spunky. If you don’t reign that thing in, Jiraiya, you might have another calamity on your hands. Not that I would mind watching the Leaf implode in of itself.”

At such a speed that Sasuke almost misses it, Jiraiya and Hanzo both weave hand signs and summon their respective animals at nearly the same time—with Jiraiya being a hair faster. Hanzo summons a salamander big enough to stand on while Jiraiya summons a toad of the same size. Sasuke’s vision is obscured, however, when Kakashi raises a domed Earth-Style wall 360 degrees around them, only for it to crumble from paper bombs in the next minute. 

“Damn,” Kakashi mutters. “Naruto! Summon some Shadow Clones! We need to take care of these other Rain shinobi while Jiraiya fights Hanzo. Karin, please make sure not to get hurt.”

\---

“Dammit, Jiraiya!” Gamabunta roars. “I was just about to take a bath! What is it now?” 

“Now is not the time, my friend. We have an old acquaintance to take care of, but we can drink after!” 

“Ibuse,” Hanzo says, “use your Poison Mist!”

A purple mist starts cloaking Hanzo’s immediate surroundings as it slowly approaches Jiraiya. The toad sage glances down and sees Kakashi and his team engaged in combat while the redhead—that looks awfully like Kushina—stands in between the four of them with the panda cub. 

Jiraiya sucks in a breath and thinks, _Futon: Dust Cloud_ as he blows air to dissipate the poison cloud. On the ground, however, there are paper bombs crawling towards him like little maggots. “Jump! Gamabunta!”

The chief toad leaps into the air, and Jiraiya can only hope that Kakashi, his team, and the redhead are agile enough to avoid being landed on. Gamabunta unsheathes his sword and aims to plunge the salamander and his master. Right before the sword connects, however, Hanzo body flickers himself and his salamander away in the nick of time. 

“Old age has been kind to you, Hanzo.”

“Only my will to live and conquer has.” 

Jiraiya starts weaving the signs for Doton: Dark Swamp, but he gets interrupted by Hanzo’s sickle. Jiraiya ducks under the flying blade and chucks a handful of shuriken towards the master of the salamander. 

Hanzo body flickers away again, and Gamabunta puffs out a cloud of smoke. “Jiraiya, you need to detain that man. He’s far too well versed with the Body Flicker Technique.” 

“You say that, but I’m really trying here, Bunta. This man isn’t a living legend for nothing.” 

Again, paper bombs start crawling their way towards them like caterpillars, so Gamabunta jumps yet again, aiming its blade for Hanzo. And yet again, the man body flickers away, making the blade stab into the soft dirt of the bamboo forest. All around them is honestly such a sad sight; soil is kicked all around; tall towers of bamboo are snapped in half like some small twigs; such a beautiful place is being tarnished before their very own eyes.

“Okay, Bunta! Let’s do the thing!” Jiraiya weaves the hand seals and yells, “Katon: Toad Flame Bomb!”

Gamabunta spews out a nasty looking oil while Jiraiya spits out a flame bomb. Hanzo’s about to body flicker again, but Jiraiya’s eyes widen when he sees two fireballs flying towards Hanzo as well, effectively locking him in place. 

Hanzo’s salamander takes a direct hit from the fire attack, incinerating it for a few seconds, before the huge amphibian _poofs_ away. Hanzo himself falls to the ground, his clothes burnt and mangled, but he gets up just as quickly as he fell. 

Jiraiya jumps off of Gamabunta and traps Hanzo in a Doton: Dark Swamp Jutsu just as he lands. Kakashi and the Uchiha kid come out in a flank, trapping Hanzo where he is. Another couple heartbeats later, Naruto, the pinkhead, and the redhead also make their appearance, panting like they just had the fight of their lives—which honestly, they just might’ve. 

Kakashi and the Uchiha kid take a step forward, but Jiraiya stops them by putting a hand up. “Don’t get too close! His body has poisonous properties.” The forest is quiet for a moment before the clash of metal can be heard. “Why do I still hear fighting?”

“Grass shinobi has engaged the Rain shinobi, allowing us to escape, Lord Jiraiya,” Kakashi says in his matter of fact way. 

“Good.”

“Before you do anything,” Hanzo says through panted breaths, “please allow me some final words.” 

Jiraiya tsks. “I’m watching you, Hanzo.” 

“I think we both strive for the same thing, Jiraiya of the Legendary Sannin. Peace. In some morbid way, I believe that I had some part in making you Sannin living legends, and not even I truly know why I did it.” Hanzo laughs a choked laugh. “I had the torch forcefully taken from me. Don’t make the same mistake, Jiraiya of the Leaf’s Legendary Sannin. Either pass that torch or hang onto it for dear life.”

Hanzo digs his sickle into his abdomen in a similar fashion to the samurai’s outdated seppuku. But before the poison can spread, Jiraiya launches his lion’s mane forwards and wraps Hanzo’s entire body in a Needle Jizo. “Kakashi! Now!”

The silver haired man lifts up his hitai-ate, weaves some hand signs, and stands at guard with his lightning-infused hand. Jiraiya cuts off the part of his hair connecting him to Hanzo with his left hand, and starts forming a Rasengan with his right. 

Jiraiya starts running towards Hanzo and yells, “Rasengan!” when he makes contact. The white cocoon flys backward some feet before Kakashi impales the cocoon with his lightning hand while saying, “Chidori.”

Was it necessary for Jiraiya to use his Rasengan first? Absolutely not!

But as Jiraiya has learned in his travels, just like when wooing women, sometimes ninja battles have to be a little theatrical. And the faces of the Uzumaki boy, Uchiha kid, pinkhead, and redhead all prove his point to a tee. Jiraiya jumps a little and faces the four spectators with a flashy grin and thumbs up. “Like what you saw?”

\---

That has to have been one of the coolest things Naruto has ever seen in his life! Is that what a ninja battle looks like? A Kage-level battle? 

There were big animals and different chakra natures all shooting towards each other. Sure, Naruto’s watched Itachi and Shisui spar before, but this is a completely different experience. Kakashi told him to stay back, but Naruto could feel the heat on his face like when you just open an oven door when Pervy Sage, Kakashi, and Sasuke all blew their Fire-Style Jutsu at the guy. 

Naruto’s excitement threatens to burst out of his skin as he runs up to the burly man after he has a frog slurp up the man into the cocoon. “Pervy Sage! Teach me how to do _that_!”

Kakashi, however, pulls him back by his jacket collar. “I’m hurt, Naruto. I can teach you how to be a splendid shinobi, too, you know.”

“Yeah, but can you teach me _that_ , y’know. Like how to summon gigantic frogs and—”

“Excuse me!” the frog in question roars out. “I am a toad! Do not call me a frog!”

“Yeesh,” Jiraiya says. “Calm down, Bunta. He’s still just a kid.” 

“Anyways, can you teach me how to summon _toads_ and that ball thing? Huh, sensei? Huh?”

“Well, no, but—”

“Then Pervy Sage! Please? Can you teach me those things?” 

“—I can teach you other things, Naruto. And I fully intend to. Lord Jiraiya is a busy man, he has other things to attend to.”

Jiraiya hums and rubs his chin. “Well actually, I’m not really doing anything at the moment. I came to the Grass since I was on my way to the Leaf.” 

Kakashi sighs. “Well, Naruto, ask your teammates first. I’ve seen enough jealousy to last a lifetime already.”

Sasuke grunts. “Do what you want, Naruto. If you want to train with a perverted old man, then fine by me.”

Naruto turns towards Sakura, hope brimming out of every pore of his body. 

Sakura purses her lips before saying, “Actually, I am quite interested in that hair jutsu, Lord Jiraiya. If you wouldn’t mind…”

“This would be my third round of students, but the more the merrier! As a snake man always says, ‘The next generation always surpasses the last.’ Show me what you got!” 

Kakashi shakes his head. “I’m not reducing our training or workload by a single metric.”

“What about you?” Jiraiya asks, jerking his head towards Karin.

“I’m not a ninja.”

“And? It’s not everyday that one gets offered to be trained by the Great Toad Sage Jiraiya of the Leaf’s Legendary Sannin.”

“No.”

Jiraiya claps his hands. “And the offer’s closed! Don’t come crying to me when you want to be trained.” 

Naruto grins as Pervy Sage drops one arm around his shoulders and his other arm around Sakura’s. Speaking of Sakura, the panda cub in her arms makes a very important event flood back into Naruto’s mind that he completely forgot about in the adrenaline of battle. 

“Kakashi-sensei! We need to go back and bury Panda-sensei!”

“Panda-sensei? You mean, Masato?”

Naruto nods his head, but doesn’t dare open his mouth.

Kakashi scrutinizes his face before solemnly nodding. “I see. Let’s go then.”

The six of them (the toad's already _poofed_ away, muttering about bathing or something) walk back to that original clearing, and lo and behold, Masato’s body is still where they left him. Naruto’s lips quiver and Jiraiya’s grip on his shoulder tightens slightly. 

“I didn’t know that there were any pandas left in this forest,” Jiraiya says. 

“Not many people do,” Kakashi says. “Masato asked me and my team to keep his existence a secret when we met him during the Third War.”

Jiraiya points towards the puffball in Sakura’s arms. “What do we do with the cub?”

“We can’t just leave him here, right?” Sakura says. 

“I suppose we just have to take him home then. Let’s take him to the Inuzuka when we get back.” 

Kakashi weaves some hand signs and Masato’s body slowly sinks into the ground like a coffin being lowered. Naruto lifts Jiraiya’s arm off of his shoulders and squats down next to the pit. “Thank you, Panda-sensei. Meditating really is great, huh?”

Naruto looks up at his teacher, his jonin teacher, and the man completes the jutsu, gently covering the panda with soil. Naruto wonders how tall bamboo would grow if it grew on this patch of dirt. It would probably grow to be really tall and smart.

And with that thought, the rain disappears; the sun peeks through some clouds and a grin breaks out on Naruto’s face. 

“I’m really glad we did this mission.” 

Sasuke rolls his eyes. “It turned out better than I initially thought it would.”

Sakura giggles and slaps his arm. “A lot happened, that’s for sure. But it seems we made some really good friends along the way.”

“Friends,” Karin mutters, shaking her head. “It wouldn’t bother me if you called me a friend.”

“Then why don’t you come back to the Leaf with us?” Naruto asks before he can even think about the question himself. “You don’t consider the Grass ‘home’ anyways. I swear, you’ll be calling the Leaf ‘home’ in a year's time, y’know.” 

“I suppose… the offer doesn’t sound unappealing. I’ll think about it.”

“Woohoo! Karin’s coming home with us!”

“I said that I’ll think about it, Uzumaki Naruto.”

“Hey, now that I think about it, what’s your family name anyways?” Karin mutters something, but Naruto doesn’t quite catch it. “Can you repeat that?”

“I said ‘Uzumaki’,” Karin snaps. “Uzumaki Karin.”

Naruto and Jiraiya’s jaws drop at the same time. “Huh?”


	11. Conversations and Comfort

> Jiraiya of the Hidden Leaf is an up-and-coming author that surely has a strong understanding of love. The push and pull between the main characters, and the heated moments of passion is enough to make any heart scream in delight and angst. The writing style is evocative, pulling the reader into the mind of the hero and heroine as they navigate the scary world of a relationship. Don’t miss out on Jiraiya’s debut novel into the romance genre, _Makeout Paradise_.  
>  —praise for Jiraiya’s book, _Makeout Paradise_

\--- 

“U-U-Uzumaki?” Jiraiya asks, floored by the thought. 

Karin crosses her arms and turns around, starting to walk back to the Grass already. Naruto, however, reaches out a hand and tries to grab her arm, but before he can touch her, she instantly swats away his hand—not like it’s some annoying fly buzzing around her—but like she’s scared of it. Naruto gets the message but is grateful when she stops walking anyways and turns to face him directly with a surprising amount of uncertainty on her face. 

“Uzumaki?” Naruto asks with blinding hope in his voice, saying the name that he must’ve said at least a million times in his life. “You’re really an Uzumaki, too?”

“I already said so, didn’t I?”

“I…” Naruto lurches forward to hug her, and she freezes like a statue. “I’m so happy, y’know. I’ve never met anybody from _my_ clan before.”

“Okay, Naruto,” Sakura says, pulling him away by his collar. “Give her some space.” 

Sasuke tsks from his position next to Sakura. “It’s about time you told him, Karin. I knew he would react this way.”

“You knew!” Naruto accuses. 

Naruto and Sasuke aren’t exactly the gossipy types (Queen of Gossip being solely Ino’s title), especially when it comes to familial matters like this, but it still would’ve still been nice to not be kept in the dark. Naruto can’t really blame his brother though, since it isn’t exactly Sasuke’s tale to tell, and Sasuke, previous events at a certain restaurant excluded, typically knows when to keep his mouth shut. 

This mission is actually the first time that Naruto has really seen Sasuke so on edge before. His brother’s usually the epitome of “calm, cool, and collected” with the exception of maybe Shino. Naruto’s raven-haired other half can blend into a wall and turn into a shadow whenever he wants, figuratively speaking of course. And actually, it wouldn’t be surprising if Sasuke actually does learn how to become a shadow on the wall. 

“Kakashi-sensei knew, too,” Sasuke adds, giving that extra bit of information that makes Naruto give his brother a thumbs up. 

“Seeeensei,” Naruto whines. 

“Okay, okay, the important thing is that everybody’s caught up to speed now. Anyways, we should go check on the Hidden Grass and then go home after. I think we all need a break.”

Jiraiya, copying Naruto’s earlier pose exactly, gives Kakashi a thumbs up. “Good idea, Kakashi! Look at how much you’ve grown!”

Kakashi rubs the back of his neck. “I’m not a kid anymore, Lord Jiraiya.” 

The six of them travel back to the village proper, and Naruto hovers around Karin like a bumblebee. He just can’t contain his own happiness at having found another Uzumaki! Even he can tell that the joy’s oozing out of every pore of his body, as tangible as the scent of honey. 

He’s hung around Uchiha his entire life, but that’s different. There isn’t anything like blood or ability connecting him and the Uchiha, yet there’s that invisible tug pulling him and Karin. Not anything like the red string of fate—which he only knows about because of, again, Ino—but more like a blood bond. A bond exists between them because they descend from the same ancestors and name. 

“Will you stop buzzing around like that?” Karin snaps. “It’s getting kind of creepy.”

Naruto puts both of his hands up. “Sorry, sorry.” 

By now, Jiraiya wraps an arm around Naruto’s shoulders and leans his body weight onto him, making it harder to walk and keep pace with the others. Thankfully, all of them, including Karin, slow down their paces to allow Naruto to catch up. 

“You need to be more subtle when dealing with ladies, kid,” Jiraiya says not subtly whatsoever. “A good, ambitious chase is always enjoyable, but a slow and simmering burn is where it’s at.”

“There will be no _burn_ here,” Karin says. “You people are giving me a headache.”

Jiraiya wiggles his eyebrows, still leaning on Naruto. “Headache? Or heartache?” 

“Aaaah, I can’t listen to this anymore,” Sakura says, turning her attention to the panda cub in her arms. “Take, distract me.” 

“Ew,” Naruto says, “I’m not thinking of her in _that_ way, y’know. You’re starting to sound like Ino, Pervy Sage.”

“Glad that’s cleared,” Karin mutters. 

Jiraiya stands fully upright, finally relieving Naruto’s shoulders of the weight. “Sheesh, you guys are such downers. Us shinobi need at least a little fun in our lives. And actually, now that I think about it, I met an Uzumaki before as well.”

“Really? Where?”

Jiraiya rubs at his chin in a way showing that he’s definitely thinking long and hard about it. “Ironically enough, it was in the Hidden Rain Village. I took him and two others on as students after he displayed a magnificent resilience to stay alive and help others. I wonder where they are now.”

“What’s his name?”

“Nagato. Uzumaki Nagato.”

“Maybe he’s your long lost twin, Naruto,” Sakura jokes. “Same number of syllables.”

“With the only difference being the middle,” Sasuke drly finishes. 

“I think I have enough brothers,” Naruto muses, nudging Sasuke’s shoulder with his own. “And they’re pretty great brothers, too.”

“I…” Sasuke says, looking away with tinged cheeks. “Don’t say things like that.”

“Aww,” Sakura coos, “is Sasuke embarrassed?” 

“This is disgusting,” Karin mutters. “Absolutely disgusting.” 

“You didn’t take him back to the village?” Kakashi asks, completely ignoring his team’s shenanigans.

“Of course not! It was during the Second War, and there wasn’t any way I could take them into the village when even allies questioned each others’ loyalty. They were strong shinobi anyways, I’m sure that they’re doing fine.”

They continue walking, and Naruto wonders if he’ll ever get to meet this “Nagato” fellow. It would be pretty cool if he did.

\--- 

When they finally make it back to the Hidden Grass Village, it’s surprisingly liberated already.. Kids and elderly alike are scurrying about the streets, righting any wrongs that they find like fixing tipped over trash cans and picking up any stray kunai. Any remnants of Rain shinobi are either gone or being cleaned up already. 

Sasuke freezes when the world disappears around him as somebody pulls him and Naruto into a group hug, leaving Sasuke to only stare at grey. 

“I’m so glad you two are safe,” the assailant whispers, and the first word alone is enough to let Sasuke know who it is.

Even with the mask obscuring his face, the long hair and timber voice is enough to let Sasuke realize it’s his older brother. Sasuke grunts before wiggling out of the group hug, breaking the moment in a way that only he knows how, but Itachi doesn’t seem to mind. He places a hand on each of their shoulders, and the smile covered by his Anbu mask still radiates unadulterated relief all the same. He stares at them for a second longer before the moment truly dies. 

Once Itachi turns towards the rest of the party, emotion hides behind his mask again. “I was going to escort Team 7 back to the Leaf, but I don’t know if that will be necessary anymore since Lord Jiraiya appears to be with you.”

“How did you get here so fast anyways?” Jiraiya asks, squinting his eyes as he faces the sun. 

“I ran.”

Jiraiya smirks. “I remember when I had stamina like that when I was younger. Women were always _very_ impressed with me.”

The exposed part of Itachi’s neck grows crimson, causing Sasuke to purse his lips. He knows that his brother has the tendency to grow a little embarrassed about his superior ninja prowess and genius, but even this reaction seems a bit much. 

“Hey! I have a lot of stamina, too, y’know!”

Jiraiya grins. “Sure, kid. Sure”

“Well,” Sasuke says, crossing his arms and flicking his eyes between his brothers, “I have loads of stamina, too. I can probably keep on going for hours on end.”

And, for whatever reason, Jiraiya breaks down into rambunctious laughter. Sasuke wants to shut the old man up for mocking him, but the horrified look on Kakashi’s face stops him dead in his tracks, as does the way Itachi grabs onto Kakashi’s shoulder and leans onto the man for support. Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura look at each other, but in the end can only shrug their shoulders. Karin looks disgusted, but when doesn’t she? 

“An innocent shinobi really is an oxymoron, huh?”

“Oxy-what?” Naruto says.

“Moron,” Sasuke mutters. 

“Hey!” Naruto says, raising a fist. “What did you just call me?”

“A moron.”

“Both of you are morons,” Sakura says as she tugs Naruto by the collar and glares as Sasuke. 

“What both of you need is more oxygen in your brains,” Karin quips. 

Kakashi stares at Jiraiya with a weird look. “I don’t think you used the word ‘oxymoron’ correctly.”

“Whaaat?” Jiraiya drawls. “Out of the two of us, which is the published author?”

“Anyways,” Itachi says, reigning in the conversation away from the other Leaf shinobi. “I didn’t run from the Leaf directly. I was assigned a mission near the Grass-Fire border and decided to check on these two.”

Sasuke turns around and puffs out his cheeks like a chipmunk, something he only does in the presence of his eldest brother. “We don’t need you babysitting us.”

“I know, Sasuke. I wasn’t going to interfere with your mission anyways, but good thing I came. My team took care of any Rain shinobi still in the village. Of course, Father is going to want a full report when we get back.”

Kakashi sighs. “I’m already mentally filling it out.”

Jiraiya slaps his back, still wheezing. “We’re counting on you, Kakashi!”

“Let’s just go home already.”

\---

“We did it! We really did it!” Yahiko says for the umpteenth time, but the words still taste like honey to Nagato’s ears.

The redhead tears his eyes from the drab window and smiles fondly at his friend. His friend who is currently laying in a hospital bed and is the symbol for their victorious cause. “If you keep saying it, the words will wear out eventually.”

“I think,” Konan says as she finishes adding water to the numerous flower vases and sits next to Yahiko, “that these words are powerful enough to withstand Yahiko’s unadulterated excitement. But, I do say that you need to calm down, Yahiko. You need to recover.”

“I know, Konan, but we did it, guys! Our ragtag organization of dreamers has finally shown the world that our vision for a new dawn isn’t mere fantasy. It’s reachable and able to be bent towards reality!”

“It’s about time we end this painful cycle of the strong trampling the weak,” Nagato says as he looks away from Yahiko’s boyish grin lest he wants to get completely lost in it. He instead opts to focus his attention back on the everlasting rain, which was once a sign of dreary, but is now once again a sign of home. “Let us create a painless world.” 

“It is regrettable, however, that we were not able to pursue Hanzo and the rest of his gang. We can only hope that another nation finished what we were not able to.”

“Yes,” Nagato agrees, “but we should remember that he was the aggressor. He wanted a fight, not us. In hindsight though, I truly believe we both yearned for the same thing. It’s a shame that he grew so paranoid about everything to the point of even lashing at his own shadow. That surely overshadowed his wish for peace.”

“But that is in the past, my friends,” Yahiko says with his perennial grin. “For the present, we should start correspondence with the Five Great Nations. Who should we start with?”

“Actually, I gave it some thought, and I think we should start with the Hidden Leaf.” Nagato runs his hands through his straight red hair. “It’s about time that we paid our debt to Jiraiya-sensei after all.”

“What a wonderful idea, Nagato,” Konan says, busying her hands with making an origami fish. No matter the time of day or what she’s doing, her hands for some reason always manage a way to fold origami. For her, folding origami is akin to breathing or walking. 

“That’s why you’re the brains of our operation! Konan, can I have a piece of paper please? We shall wait no longer! Hard work takes no breaks.”

“And while we’re at it,” Nagato continues, “we should deliver the letter personally and have a summit with the Hokage. That should really show that the Hidden Rain is changing and turning away from our disillusioned past of isolationism.”

“Brilliant, Nagato! Brilliant!”

Konan giggles behind her hand, nudging Yahiko’s shoulder. “Make sure it’s legible. We need to make a good impression for the Lord Hokage. Oh, how the times have changed that we can talk about the Leaf in such a positive light.”

“We can thank Jiraiya-sensei for that. It’s still a wonder that he took us on as students.”

“We can thank _you_ for that, Nagato,” Yahiko declares, never missing a moment for dramatics. “In fact, if it wasn’t for those fascinating chains of yours, I would have been long dead already. Really, I’m grateful to call you a friend.” 

Nagato blushes and blocks his cheeks with his collar. Once upon a time, Yahiko wanted to go all out and add red clouds to their jackets, but Konan wasn’t having any of it, vetoing any designs that the man scribbled on any spare piece of paper he could find. “Don’t waste paper, Yahiko,” Konan always says. And Yahiko’s cheeky reply is always: “Can’t you always provide more?”

To the naked eye, it’s a cheeky friend abusing their comrade’s ability. But in reality, it’s a declaration that they will always be together, no matter what. No matter what happens, Konan would always be able to provide Yahiko with paper, and this hidden meaning doesn’t fly over Nagato’s head. 

“Anyways, you need to rest, Yahiko. We all had a difficult fight, but you took the brunt of it. Even if Hanzo’s grown old, he sure held his ground.” 

“Like always, I agree.” Konan sets her origami fish on Yahiko’s shoulder as she gets up from the bed. “I’ll take care of the more trivial errands today. Nagato, you should rest as well.”

“I’m fine, Konan. We should show our citizens that we’re working as hard as we promised.”

“That is absolutely correct—”

Konan playfully glares at the man lying in the hospital bed. “Lie back down, Yahiko. Even a savior has to rest sometimes.” 

“We can take care of the business of the day, you know,” Nagato drawls. “Just focus on resting and writing your _grandiose_ letter to the Hokage.”

“Oh, it will be the grandiose-est letter of them all!”

Nagato and Konan take their leave and stroll through the hospital corridors in silence as they navigate their way to the Administration Tower. Various passers-by wave or nod in their direction, and if he’s being honest, Nagato doesn’t know if he’ll ever truly get used to being so well known by people. He was more than happy to let Yahiko be the active leader of the Akatsuki, but an entire village is far too large to rule alone. 

They’re still working out the finer details, but Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan would all play some role in managing the village while Yahiko remains the most visible of the three and “Leader of the Rain” for all intents and purposes. Fortunately for them, all loyal followers of Hanzo already left, so that’s one less headache to deal with as they move forward with their transition of power. There’s also the matter of the Rain Daimyo, but he’s mostly a figurehead and defunct power within the Hidden Rain, so that’s a non-issue. 

Out of the hospital and on the streets of the Rain, Nagato pulls his Akatsuki cloak closer to his body as a gust of wind comes out of nowhere. He looks at Konan at coincidentally the same time that she looks at him, and they both snicker at the chronic weather of their home. A Hidden Rain without Rain would be like a Hidden Sand without Sand or Hidden Leaf without Leaves. 

They walk about halfway to the Administration Tower until Konan tugs on his sleeve and jerks her head to a quaint cafe that they’ve been to before. He nods and opens the door for her as she daintily steps into the establishment to walk to the counter. Nagato walks to a table secluded in the corner, sure that Konan already knows his preferred drink, and relaxes into one of the comfortable chairs.

All of the paintings that color the walls, interestingly enough, depict clear skies without many clouds in sight. The colors are vibrant, a clear contrast to the grey of the Rain, and certainly leave an impression.

Konan comes to the table, setting a cup of black coffee and a cream cheese covered bagel in front of him. She sits across from him and stares at him expectantly as she takes a bite out of her croissant. 

When he refuses to speak, she sighs. “Nagato—”

“That painting’s beautiful, isn’t?” he says while pointing to a painting of a little boy crying. “Really encapsulates human emotions.” 

“Nagato—” 

He shakes his head. “I already know, you don’t have to say it.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I don’t need your pity.”

“It’s not pity, it’s empathy. I'll probably never fully understand—"

“Of course you won't, he sees me as a brother in arms, and he sees you as a beautiful woman. Don't hold back because of me, Konan. It’s obviously mutual between you two."

"I love the both of you equally."

"But it’s a different type of love."

"That doesn't mean it's not equal," Konan says, taking a sip of her coffee before suddenly inhaling to probably avoid burning her tongue on the scalding liquid. 

"This is a new era for the Akatsuki. Can you imagine how amazing the public would feel if it’s led by a beautiful couple? I will gladly put the village and my friends' happiness before my own.” 

"But… it’s just not fair."

"We're not kids anymore, Konan. The entire Shinobi World is unfair. A little unrequited love is nothing."

"Nagato," Konan says as she leans forward and wipes his tears, "let's make it a little more fair. I’ll be the support that holds _both_ of your bridges up." 

For being made of paper, she certainly has a soft touch. Nagato leans his head on her shoulder, sucking in that old book smell, and what was that? The soft scent of citrus? 

"It’s a good thing Yahiko and I have the same dream then. You only need to support one bridge, Konan.” Nagato tugs his lips into a smile. “I'll protect you two, no matter what."

Nagato’s coffee still tastes bitter, but at least the bagel offsets it. 

\---

“Go to sleep, children,” Kakashi says, waving away the kids to their side of the camp at nightfall. Unfortunately, not all of them have great _stamina_ , so they have to break up the trip home into a numerous day event.

“We’re not children,” Sasuke and Naruto mutter at the same time before they go through the motions of jinxing each other and tucking into their bedrolls when Kakashi’s had enough. 

Kakashi gives the four sleeping figures (plus one panda cub) one last look before sitting on a log next to his protege and across from his teacher of a teacher as the flames of a fire shimmers between them. 

The three of them sit in a pregnant silence until Jiraiya abruptly breaks it in a very Jiraiya manner. “How is the boy’s seal? Minato’s son, I mean.”

Itachi hums. By now, he’s taken off his mask, and even after only a short amount of time, Kakashi’s heart swells with pride as his demeanor exudes the aura of an Anbu Captain. “Lord Orochimaru tightened it years ago, but we’re still closely watching it. Even the Jonin Commander isn’t as adept at seals as the Fourth was after all. Or you for that matter.”

“I’ll take a look at it later then.” Jiraiya huffs out a breath. “I can’t believe I’m going back to the village after all these years. The place of some of my worst victories and greatest regrets.”

“It wasn’t your fault, Lord Jiraiya. It would have been even more disastrous if you, or if any of the Sannin for that matter, died during the Attack, too.”

“But still,” Jiraiya says, dropping his face into his hands. “how could I not protect one of my students? Isn’t it a teacher’s job to protect their students?”

Itachi picks at his armguards, glancing at Kakashi like he always does when he doesn’t know what to say. Itachi isn’t exactly a people person, so Kakashi gets up and drops a hand on the Toad Sage’s shoulder. He then walks behind the man and starts massaging Jiraiya’s shoulders in that way Natsu always does to him when he’s stressed about a mission. 

Kakashi truly hopes that going home never feels like a mission. 

“Oh, look at me,” Jiraiya murmurs. “I was telling Hanzo off about being interested in young boys, and now I have one rubbing at my shoulders.”

Itachi blankly blinks, looking to Kakashi for guidance, but he just shakes his head. Some details are better left unsaid, especially when concerning Jiraiya. 

“My brothers seem very fond of you, Lord Jiraiya.”

“I know. They even want me as a teacher. What have you been teaching them, huh, Itachi?” Jiraiya accuses. 

“Not much, honestly. I wanted them to go through the motions with the rest of their peers, being a genius isn’t as great as people make it out to be.”

“That,” Kakashi says, putting elbow grease into Jiraiya’s really stiff shoulders, “is absolutely correct.”

“I wouldn’t know,” Jiraiya says, falling back into his bombastic attitude like it’s a mask. “Orochimaru and Tsunade were leagues ahead of me as students. Has Tsunade come back to the village yet?”

“Not since you left,” Kakashi says, giving up and sitting next to Jiraiya. “She and Shizune are doing well, though—she sent a letter to Natsu.”

“Oh? That’s good then. I just hope she isn’t doing anything reckless.”

“Well, it’s Lady Tsunade,” Kakashi simply says, not even knowing the meaning of the words himself. 

Kakashi pulls a blank scroll out of his backpack and wonders how he should start his report. He debates with himself over whether or not to include Hachiro and Mitsuko in it before ultimately deciding that it’s not really necessary. There’s no reason to include civilians into the mess of the Shinobi World. 

“I’m glad that the Naruto kid seems happy.” Jiraiya kicks a rock into the campfire. “Minato would be glad, too.”

Itachi nods absentmindedly. “He’s a part of the family. I think Mother even forgets sometimes that she didn’t give birth to him.”

“You know,” Jiraiya says with a sudden somberness, “that kid could’ve easily been ostracized as the Nine-Tails’s jinchuriki without the protection of the Hokage himself. I don’t really know if I can be considered his godfather anymore, but I’ll do anything in my power to protect him. I don’t even think I need to tell you two to do the same.”

“Obviously,” Kakashi says, writing his report in his slightly messy but efficient handwriting. 

Itachi cracks a grin. “Goes without saying.” 

\---

Sakura only wakes up because of sheer habit. Her body automatically responds to the soft sobs coming from someone within her party. The soft sobs that sound louder than they actually are because of the obvious efforts by the producer to try and mask the sound.

Sakura peaks her head out of her bedroll and squints into the darkness. The silently loud weeps come and go in constant intervals. 3 seconds of crying. 3 seconds of silence. 3 seconds of crying. 3 seconds of silence. 

There are two sleeping bags to her left, two to her right, and Jiraiya’s lying in the direction of her feet. Judging from the direction of the weeping, Sakura guesses that the culprit’ somebody to her right—and that’s not even taking into account that Kakashi and Sasuke are the ones to her left. 

Sakura wiggles out of her bed and creeps over to the bag right next to her. She waits the three seconds, and when the crying doesn’t come from that bed roll, concludes that the culprit’s the person sleeping in the furthest position to the right of her sleeping spot. Sakura tiptoes over to the sleeping back to find the telltale red hair of Uzumaki Karin. 

It’s only squatting next to the girl for a few moments does Sakura realize she doesn’t know what to do. She tentatively reaches out a hand but retracts it just as quick. 

Years ago, after it was decided Sai would stay with the Harunos since he had nowhere else to go, Sakura and Sai shared a bedroom since her dad’s office wasn’t cleared out yet (and it wouldn’t be cleared out for years). And years ago, Sakura would wake up in the middle of the night to silent but loud sobs. Her six year old self didn’t know what else to do other than sit next to him and hold his hand, and that’s exactly what she did. 

And that’s exactly what she does now. Sakura reaches out a hand and gently takes Karin’s hand into her own. She doesn’t know if the other girl will feel it or—and then, Karin’s hand tightens its grip and holds Sakura’s captive. Karin’s eyes don’t open, and she doesn’t make any acknowledgement of Sakura’s presence, but it doesn’t matter. The important thing is that the intervals between Karin’s sobs grow longer and longer as time passes. 

3 seconds of crying. 4 seconds of silence. 2 seconds of crying. 5 seconds of silence. 1 second of crying. 6 seconds of silence. 0 seconds of crying. Silence.

Sakura tries to move her hand away, but Karin’s grip turns iron. Still, without opening her eyes, Karin scoots over in her sleeping bag, leaving a little spot open—one large enough to fit an entire body. 

Before Sakura moves to lie down next to Karin, her eyes wander and just happen to meet a masked man sitting on a tree branch from a little ways away. Honestly, it’s hard to tell if Itachi’s awake or asleep, watching or paying no heed. With a smoothness befitting an elite ninja, Itachi swivels his face so that he’s not watching the two girls directly and makes no other acknowledgment of the ordeal. 

Sakura wishes Itachi all the happiness in the world as she scoots into the sleeping bag, still holding onto Karin’s hand like she’s the anchor to Karin’s ship. Sakura knows that she can’t dock Karin’s ship fully, but she can certainly help. 

The quiet hush of a “thank you” eventually reaches Sakura’s ear, but she doesn’t know if it's from reality or a dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You may have noticed, but I'm really avoiding the whole Zetsu and Kaguya thing. I know it's canon, but this fic isn't going to delve into "Kaguya's will" and stuff. I want characters, like the Akatsuki, to have more sovereignty over their actions and for events to be a natural result of other events, not as a result of being part of a "grand plan". Don't ever hesitate to ask questions or call me out for plot holes!


	12. It’s a Dog-Eat-Dog World

> I am, of course, humbled that Fugaku has chosen me to serve as the new Anbu Commander. The actions of Shimura Danzo are unconscionable, and with the support of the rest of the Council, I am already in the process of reforming Danzo’s so-called ‘Root’ into an organization more befitting of the Hidden Leaf Village. I have for far too long turned a blind-eye to Danzo’s actions, and I will have to live with that fact for the rest of my life. 
> 
> The Shinobi World is only as ruthless as we make it, and after three Great Wars, it may be time to consider filing down our teeth without losing any bark. I had the dishonor of leading the Leaf through two Great Ninja Wars as Hokage, and I hope that I will have the honor of leading the Leaf through zero as Anbu Commander. 
> 
> I also want to be clear that I will be the Anbu Commander as a shinobi of the Leaf, not as a former Hokage. I ask that I be referred to as ‘Lord Hiruzen’ or ‘Hokage Emeritus’ not as ‘Lord Third’. I no longer hold the duties delegated to the Hokage, and I entrust Fugaku to uphold and keep aflame the Will of Fire, while I navigate my new position as well. I, along with the rest of my colleagues on the Council, serve at the pleasure of the Hokage.
> 
> I will not be taking any further questions at this time.  
>  —Sarutobi Hiruzen’s remarks at a press conference after Danzo’s death on the first day of the Fifth Hokage’s reign 

\---

Shisui kicks back in his chair and lounges his feet on the empty chair next to him. The back two chair legs croak at having to support his entire weight, but Shisui pays it no mind as he skims through the manga that he's reading to find the exact panel of where he left off.

Even with an auspicious title like _Deputy Chief of Police_ , Shisui can’t find a way to escape duty, so here he is doing the most boring work in the village as a gate guard. It's not even in the police's jurisdiction, but in recent years less and less shinobi have joined the Border Patrol division (which Shisui fully understands), leading to the police and border patrol being smashed together in every aspect but name.

Shisui's eyes glaze over the manga panels as his booth designated to returning Leaf shinobi doesn't gain much traffic. He’s in the middle of a really intense action sequence when he hears the pitter patter of a group of footsteps heading his way, and by the Sage does it sound like a lot of people. 

"Don't forget to sign in," he drawls while quickly flicking his hand in the direction of the sign in sheet. The main protagonist gets punched in the gut by his archnemesis, and Shisui _feels_ it in his bones. 

The Deputy chief casually blows a bubblegum bubble, and when his eyes flicker upward slightly to make sure they’re doing what they're told, the pink elastic pops, fully coating his lips as his eyes widen in shock.

Even under the Anbu mask, the judgy feeling is palpable and well felt (and Shisui swears it's that presence that popped his bubblegum bubble). Itachi isn't as much of a literati as Shisui, or even Sasuke for that matter, and it shows honestly. Bless Itachi’s heart, but he’s turned away from the fine art of literature after Shisui may or may not have coaxed him into reading a certain book titled _Makeout Paradise_. But that’s neither this nor that, hither nor thither; Shisui believes it’s the job of the enlightened to bring the light to others, and Itachi will come around to it eventually, especially since he was under the tutelage of Hatake Kakashi for so long. 

“Yo!” Shisui suavely says after shoving all the gum back in his mouth with his tongue. “Itachi, you’re back early.”

The man behind the mask jerks his thumb to the side, and lo and behold, there’s an entire entourage of familiar and unfamiliar faces behind waiting to sign into the village—ranging all the way from a literary genius to… a panda? He’s not surprised honestly, stranger things have happened here, after all. 

But, of the group, it’s his favorite bubbly blond brat that greets him first. “Shisui!” Naruto yells, “it’s been a while, y’know!”

Shisui snaps his manga close and slams all four chair legs onto the ground to properly greet the arriving party. He leans forward on his desk and rests his chin in his palm. “Yo! Naruto, Mini Itachi, how was playing shinobi?”

Sasuke grunts and glares at him, but he isn’t sure if it’s from the nickname or question, so Shisui just assumes it’s both. It was certainly an expected surprise that Uncle Hokage actually sent them on a C-Rank mission. Shisui wouldn’t ever want to incriminate the man, but he suspects a whiff of favoritism was at play. His Uncle Hokage probably bent the rules a little to see how his precious two, non-Itachi sons would fare at being shinobi. 

And of course, Shisui’s mighty curious, too. 

Instead of getting a response from the kids, however, Kakashi places a hand on both of the brothers’ heads and shakes his own head, while staring Shisui dead in the eye. . 

Thankfully, Lady Luck blesses him as Itachi leans over the desk and whispers into his ear, “I’ll tell you about it later.”

Legally and ethically, Shisui probably shouldn’t say—especially as a police officer for crying out loud—but he may be in the know for many more going-ons around the village than he should be in thanks to a certain Anbu confidant. And actually, Shisui may’ve had a few slips of the tongue in the past, which his Uncle Hokage feigned ignorance to, either because he’s an Uchiha (favoritism) or because he doesn’t care enough. 

Sighing, Shisui continues his job by leaning over his desk and making sure everybody properly signs into the village. This system was put into place after there was brief hysteria—unfounded in Shisui’s opinion—over border security in the village. So now every soul entering the village needs to record their entrance on a flimsy scroll, even if they've already been authorized to enter by the village barrier.

“Hey,” Shisui says, looking at the scroll and totally not debating whether or not to ask Jiraiya for his autograph, “one signature is missing, there’s only five on here.”

Jiraiya clears his throat like he’s on a stage and sets his hand on the shoulder of a redhead girl. “That is because Uzumaki Karin over here is not yet a resident of the Leaf. I, Jiraiya of the Sannin, would like to start her immigration process as her sponsor.” 

The cogs spin in Shisui’s mind. Uzumaki—that somehow sounds like a very familiar name. A very familiar name that seems to be associated with a certain blond boy. 

Before he can stop himself, Shisui asks, “Did you get married, Naruto?”

The reaction among the party is a spectrum of surprise, amusement, and disgust. Jiraiya keels over from laughter; Itachi slaps a hand over his mask and grips it so tightly that Shisui fears he might break the damn thing; Kakashi looks as done with life as he always does; the pinkhead holding the panda breaks into an amused smile; Mini Itachi glares at Shisui with eyes that could kill; Naruto looks confused, maintaining a boyish innocence in his eyes; Karin gags— _gags_ —and hopefully she doesn’t throw up or anything, because that is not something Shisui wants to deal with.. 

“I’m guessing that’s a no?”

“Can we have Izumi handle Karin’s immigration process?” Mini Itachi asks with all the seriousness in the world. 

“Oh, come on, Mini Itachi. It was only a simple question.”

The boy doesn’t even recoil at the nickname, giving Shisui the immense satisfaction to be the only person in the village—no, _za warudo_ —to be able to call Sasuke that and not get either a vicious verbal tirade or a mopey Sasuke, depending on how the kid’s feeling of course. Oh, Sasuke was so cute when he was a little, wide-eyed boy; too bad time and age chipped away his rose-colored view of the world. 

“Anyways,” Itachi says, always the mediator, “I think Shisui is capable of handling a simple task like this, right?”

“Of course, I am.” Shisui gives them a thumbs up. “You three can always count on your old pal Uchiha Shisui.” 

“Well, Shisui,” Jiraiya says, “I’ll leave her to you. I have a certain snake man I need to meet up with.”

“Wait, but the paperwork—”

But Jiraiya body flickers away before Shisui can finish his sentence to presumably meet up with Orochimaru, since there’s no other “snake man” in the Hidden Leaf Village. 

Shisui sighs, but yells, “Oi! Somebody, cover the rest of my shift. I need to go take care of something,” towards the other check in desk and hops over the table when somebody calls back a noise of affirmation. 

Shisui spits his gum into a nearby trashcan and grins towards the redhead who’s openly staring at him with open disgust. Who says Shisui isn’t a lady’s man?

Itachi clears his throat. “Well then, I believe this is where we split up now.”

“Yeah,” Kakashi agrees. “And you three,” he says, pointing towards Naruto, Mini Itachi, and the pinkhead with the panda, “go take Take to the Inuzuka Animal Clinic. And if Ms. Tsume asks, I guess you can register him under your name, Sakura. You guys can leave him there for now, then I’ll swing by and figure out the specifics over what to do with him. Dismissed!”

“Yessir!” the three kids yell as they anticlimactically start walking away. When they formally learn the Body Flicker Jutsu from dear old Kakashi here, Shisui will be sure to teach them some tips and tricks. 

Itachi turns towards him, still under the guise of an Anbu mask. “Will you be okay with Karin? Captain Kakashi and I need to meet with Father.”

Shisui puts a hand on the back of his neck while the girl beside him huffs hard enough to knock over a brick building. “Oh yeah, I’ll get the paperwork done ASAP. But, you should know that Uncle Hokage isn’t currently in the village at the moment.”

“Why?” Kakashi asks with a bored look on his face that probably masquerades the storm of interest in his brain. This duo is, and always has been, a handful; they’re more difficult to read between the lines than a novel. 

“He’s meeting with the Daimyo. Spontaneous visit, or so everybody says. Anyways, Lord Hiruzen should be in his office at the Anbu Headquarters if whatever happened is that urgent.”

Kakashi hums. “Just like old times sake, huh Itachi? The two of us reporting to Lord Hiruzen.”

Itachi doesn’t answer right away, a tell tale sign that he’s thinking about something. “Yes. And Karin, you’re in good hands. I trust Shisui with my life.”

The girl nods her head, but doesn’t say anything. With one last wave, Itachi and Kakashi body flicker away, leaving Shisui with a girl with the surname Uzumaki and a lot of paperwork on his hands. He sure hopes she’ll be up for conversation, otherwise he might actually die of boredom. 

\---

“How am I lost? May I remind you that you’ve been living in this village the same amount of time that I have!”

“Yeah, but we don’t have any animals, y’know! Mom said that they’d dirty the house or something. How am I supposed to know where the Inuzuka Clinic is?”

“Aren’t you friends with Kiba?”

“And? Let’s just ask somebody and save us the trouble.”

“But that’s so embarrassing. We should at least know where our classmate of _five years_ lives!” 

Sasuke pinches the bridge as Naruto and Sakura bicker with each other as they aimlessly walk through the streets of the Leaf. Sasuke has fallen back to walk behind them, but the two of them haven’t even noticed as they quarrel. He soaks in the atmosphere of the Leaf, and it just feels _right_.

The saying “there’s no place like home” must have a tinge of truth because the sense of familiarity at seeing the Hokage Mountain or even the Hidden Leaf headbands bring a sense of security that Sasuke never knew existed and never knew he missed before going to the Hidden Grass. 

Sasuke stuffs his hands into his pockets and almost flinches when somebody comes out from the literal shadows and matches his steps stride for stride. “Sasuke, are you three looking for the Inuzuka Animal Clinic? I know that because I overheard their arguing.”

More relief than he cares to admit floods into his system. “Tsk. Warn me next time you do that, Shino.”

“I apologize. But my question still stands.”

“Yeah.”

“I can take you there if you would like. I am actually on my way back there because Kiba and Hinata are there as well, but I decided to take a walk in order to allow my insects some fresh air.”

“Sure,” Sasuke says, ignoring all the extra and unneeded information. “Lead the way.”

Shino nods before pivoting on his feet and walking in the complete _opposite_ direction that they were walking towards. Sasuke storms up to his two teammates and grabs their collars to turn them around, silently thankful when Shino stops to wait for them. 

“What—”

“Shino’s going to take us to the clinic. Come on.”

“Shino?” Sakura looks up, and a small smile graces her lips. “Oh, Shino! Thank you so much! You're a lifesaver.”

Shino nods his head with a blank face and continues walking without even a backward glance to see if they’re following. And some people think Sasuke’s emotionless?

Sasuke has always felt neutral towards the boy from the bug clan with neither intense hate nor intense liking directed towards the boy, which is probably how he feels about most of their classmates honestly. Shino is a matter-of-fact person who never allows emotion to cloud his judgement—which is actually something Sasuke truly admires about him. 

The three of them follow Shino down the streets of the Leaf, and the three teammates of Team 7 bask in a comfortable silence during their stroll. They’ve been teammates for exactly one mission—one long, and grueling mission—but they’ve known each other for so much longer. Sasuke’s known Naruto since basically his birth, and he’s known Sakura since their earliest days at the Academy, sitting next to her and Hinata for literal years in that dingy Academy classroom. 

And as much as Sasuke denies it (because the Sage knows how much Naruto doesn’t need his ego inflated anymore than it is), he knows that his younger brother is probably destined for greatness, even after poking at him with insults. Between whatever Kakashi was alluding to on their way to the Grass or because of their Father’s wranglings as the Hokage, there’s no doubt that Naruto will become _somebody_ while Sasuke remains a _nobody_. It’s just the way the cookie crumbles.

Sasuke’s surprised when he feels a tug on his own collar and hears a small giggle. 

“Where are you going, Sasuke?” Sakura asks. “Shino turned left.”

“Right,” Sasuke says, correcting his mistake.

Another giggle. “I said ‘left’.”

“I know,” Sasuke says, unamused but maybe a little amused. 

The two of them catch up to Shino and Naruto, and Sasuke rolls his eyes when he hears Naruto talking his head off while Shino makes minimal gestures of acknowledgement. The sad thing is that the both of them are probably enjoying themselves immensely. 

Eventually, they make it to a facility with the words “Inuzuka Animal Clinic” painted on the front window with caricatures of dogs surrounding the words. Shino holds the door open for them, and they all walk inside, finding an almost empty lobby with the exception of three very familiar faces. 

Sitting behind the front desk, Kiba swivels around on an office chair staring blankly at the ceiling while Hinata’s sitting at one of the visitors chairs playing with Akamaru. The ring of the door draws both of their attentions with a similar look of shock clouding their faces. 

“Yo!” Kiba yells with a wave. “If it isn’t the two brothers and Ino’s best friend.”

Preemptively, Sasuke sets a hand on Sakura’s shoulder, causing her to relax slightly under his touch. 

“Good morning, N-Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura.”

“Hey, Hinata!” Naruto says with a friendly smile, but quickly shifts his demeanor to one of childish rivalry when he says, “Kiba.”

“Kurenai-sensei said that you guys got a C-Rank mission,” Kiba says, feigning indifference that everybody in the room knows is fake. “Took you guys a couple of days, but I bet we could’ve finished sooner.”

“Oh yeah? We—” but Sakura slaps a hand over Naruto’s lips before Sasuke can tell him to shut up. Kakashi, Itachi, and even Jiraiya of all people told them not to give anybody any details of what happened in the Grass until they’re given the okay. And they definitely have not been given the okay yet.

Shino pushes his sunglasses further up his nose and clears his throat. “It appears that they cannot talk about their mission. That is because Sakura and Sasuke both made to silence Naruto.”

Sasuke grimaces at Shino’s attentiveness and is grateful that he’s an ally, not an enemy. Sakura whispers something into Naruto’s ear, and he visibly shivers, letting it be known that he got the message loud and clear. 

“Anyways,” Hinata mutters, “Sakura, is that a panda?”

“No, it’s a kitten,” Sakura jokes. 

“That’s one weird looking kitten,” Kiba says, and Sasuke really doesn’t know if he’s joking too or if he’s really that stupid. He leans towards the latter, but hopes it’s the former for his own safety since they are peers after all. Historically, generations tend to stick together whether they like it or not, as seen with the Sannin who are infamously in a three way deadlock. 

“And that’s one weird looking fox,” Naruto says, pointing towards Akamaru.

“Hah? You take that back, you know he’s a dog.”

Naruto shrugs his shoulders, and Sasuke pinches the bridge of his nose when Kiba leaps over the front desk to pick Akamaru up from him chasing his own tail. Before the situation can escalate any further, however, Sakura steps in between the two hotheads and puts a hand up while the other securely holds Take. 

“Where’s your mom, Kiba? Kakashi-sensei ordered us to take Take to a vet, so that’s why we’re here. You can have” —Sakura flourishes her hands between Kiba and Naruto— “whatever this is later.” 

“She and my sis are in surgery.”

“We’re actually here for a mission, too,” Hinata says, lifting up an animal carrier. “We got a mission to locate a stray cat and take her to the vet.”

Sasuke tsks, wishing they got that mission instead of the Hidden Grass one. Cats and kittens are the cutest thing in the world, and the best part about them is that they don’t give a damn. Dogs need to be loved or whatever, but cats act like they are the Daimyo over their owners and they couldn’t care less about things like affection, even if they secretly covet it and love their owners.

“Yeah, we probably got a cooler mission than you guys,” Kiba goads. “We had to fight an army of evil cats to save the princess cat from eminent doom.”

Sasuke bites back his intense urge to defend his favorite animal, and Kiba notices, judging from the way the dog boy is staring straight at him. 

“Cat got your tongue? Huh, Sasuke?”

“I’ll grab your tongue if you don’t shut up,” Sasuke snaps, activating his Sharingan as a bluff. 

Kiba, however, snarls as he bares his fangs in direct challenge. From Kiba’s hands, Akamaru starts barking at Take, while Take growls back from Sakura’s hold. Kiba’s eyes flicker back and forth from the two animals to Sasuke’s eyes. 

“50 ryo. Me and Akamaru versus Sasuke and that thing.”

“What?” Sakura gasps. “Take isn’t a ninja animal, Kiba.”

“Yet,” Sasuke simply says, eyeing the competitive aura coming from the panda cub.

“75 ryo!” Naruto yells, raising the bet and pulling out his frog wallet.

Kiba snaps his fingers. “100 ryo and the losing team has to be the winning team’s _bitches_.”

“Kiba!” Hinata says, looking horrified. 

“Fine, the other team has to be the winning team’s _servants_.” 

“That doesn’t make it any better,” Sakura says, exasperated. 

“In order for the bet to be formal,” Shino says, “we need to fully establish the rules and then shake on it.”

“Shino should be the referee,” Kiba says, handing Shino his team’s 100 ryo and telling Naruto to do the same. Nobody disagrees since they all know Shino impartiality in partial things. “It will be a two-versus-two match between me and Akamaru versus Sasuke and that kitten. We’ll hold the match in the yard out back and go on until one team concedes or Shino believes one team has reasonably won. No big injuries are allowed, got that Sasuke?”

Kiba holds out a hand, and Sasuke takes it as he says, “Sure.”

“It’ll be okay, Sakura!” Naruto says, patting her back as she glares at Sasuke when he takes Take in his hands. 

“I swear if anything happens to him, Sasuke.”

“Take will be fine, Sakura,” Sasuke says. “Don’t you trust me?”

“I trust you, Sasuke!” Naruto yells in her stead. “Go kick Kiba’s ass!”

\---

Sakura bites on her nails as she follows Kiba to the backyard. Sasuke looks confident at least, but this definitely wasn’t what Kakashi assigned to do.

“This is a bad idea,” Hinata says while fiddling with her fingers. “This is a bad idea, right Sakura?”

“Of course it is. But boys will be boys, I guess.” 

“Don’t worry,” Shino says, suddenly coming up next to them. “That is because I will stop them before they get injured.”

“Thank you, Shino.”

They walk outside, and Sakura and Hinata sit on the grass next to a fence, getting a clear view of the entire yard that’s the boundaries for the match, while Naruto sits beside them on the fence itself. Sakura almost wants to cover her eyes when Kiba and Sasuke stand ten feet apart with Shino in between them, their respective animals in each of their hands. Shino has both hands stuffed in his pockets and seems to be explaining something before he takes a step back and the clash between dog and dog lover versus panda and cat lover begins.

Kiba is quick to set Akamaru on the ground, and he starts sprinting towards Sasuke at mach speed. Naruto yells something from next to her, but Sakura’s so hyper focused on watching Sasuke and Take that she doesn’t hear what he’s saying. 

Sasuke lithely hops back a couple of feet, keeping Take securely in his hands. He seems composed, and right when Akamaru charges to body slam his leg, Sasuke jumps up and grabs the branch of a tree with one hand, swinging his legs to kick Kiba on the shoulder. Kiba gets hit, but recovers quickly enough to grab Sasuke’s shin.

“Sasuke!” Sakura screams, and Sasuke kicks back Kiba’s hand with his other foot before swinging away from the other boy and landing on both of his feet. 

“Hah? You’re not gonna use your little kitten, Sasuke?” Kiba snarls loud enough for the spectators to hear. 

“He really thinks Take’s a kitten,” Naruto mutters with a chuckle. 

Sasuke responds, which isn’t audible enough to hear, but Kiba’s crimson red face is telling. He crouches down on all fours, a telling sign that he’s getting serious. Sasuke sets Take on the ground next to him and gets on all fours, too, and surrounds his body with chakra. 

Naruto whistles. “That’s the Sharingan, y’know.”

Surprisingly, Take and Akamaru ignore their teammates and start circling each other. The two animals are about the same size, seemingly waiting for each other to make the first move. Beside them, their two human teammates grow animalistic as they crouch on all fours with Kiba looking as feral like a canine and Sasuke looking regal like a feline. Even from such a distance, the whisker marks on Sasuke’s cheeks closely resemble his brother’s, and judging from Naruto’s hand rubbing at his own birthmarks, he notices, too. 

As Kiba launches his body to tackle Sasuke, the two animals beside them start… playing with each other? Huh?

\---

Sasuke realizes how wildly dehumanizing the jutsu he copied with his Sharingan was the moment he places his palms on the ground in front of him. Kiba doesn’t even give him enough time to check on Take when the feral boy launches his body towards him with dizzying speed. Sasuke dodges by jumping to the side, but Kiba doesn’t lose any momentum as he lands and immediately tries to follow up again with another tackle. 

Instead of dodging this time, Sasuke ducks under the attack and donkey kicks him in the stomach. By the Sage, Sasuke vows never to use this insanely humiliating jutsu ever again. But Sasuke agreed to not use any elemental jutsu, while Kiba agreed to not use his Man Beast Clone with Akamaru. He never knew how much he would miss his lightning- and fireballs. 

“Shit!” Kiba snarls as he rubs at his midsection. “For being so skinny, you sure pack a kick.” 

“Let’s just get this over with,” Sasuke purrs before he slaps a hand over his mouth in case he accidently meows or does something equally stupid. 

Kiba cackles. “Maybe you’re more Inuzuka than Uchiha.”

Honestly, Sasuke wouldn’t even mind. The things binding him to the Uchiha are his older brother, Mom, and Sharingan. He couldn’t care less about the monthly clan meetings; he’ll leave those to Itachi. 

Sasuke, feeling his lengthened fingernails, digs his fingers into the dirt before pouncing onto Kiba. He dodges, however, so Sasuke lands onto the ground next to him. 

Kiba tries tackling him again—and this time he hits when Sasuke loses his footing (or is it handing?) and fails to fully evade the attack. Even if his Sharingan assists his sight, his reflexes can never fully match his eyes. Kiba grabs onto Sasuke, and the both of them roll on the ground as they both try to dominate the other. 

In the end, Kiba straddles Sasuke's hip as he holds down his hands with a triumphant grin. 

"It appears"—Shino pushes up his sunglasses—"that Kiba has won, because Sasuke is disabled."

Naruto, Sakura, and Hinata walk over from the fence, and Sasuke slightly tilts his face to the opposite side in something pretty close to embarrassment.

"Yahoo! Looks like a mimic will never beat the original, hah Sasuke!"

Sasuke turns back his face and can only watch in mild horror as Sakura walks behind Kiba and pounds him on the back of the head, causing him to lose his balance in shock and fall fully onto Sasuke. Kiba's lips slam onto his, and this is _not_ how Sasuke expected his first kiss to go. Even worse, the metallic taste of blood starts coating his tongue.

Sakura and Hinata squeal, while Naruto cackles at his misfortune. 

"Get… off of me," Sasuke threatens, and Kiba jumps up as fast as Itachi can sign the Fireball Jutsu. 

Sakura crouches down next to Sasuke and wipes at his lips with her thumb.

"Sorry," she whispers with a small smirk.

Sasuke tsks. "You owe me."

"Sure, Sasuke. Whatever you want."

"Are you okay, Sasuke?" Hinata asks, twiddling her thumbs. 

"No."

"Hinata," Sakura says, raising an eyebrow, "you should take Naruto as your servant, hmm?"

"N-Naruto?"

"You want me, Hinata?" Naruto asks, turning away from his very loud conversation with Kiba talking about how he’ll kick his ass next time. "You can count on me, y'know!"

"Then I'll take Sasuke," Kiba says with all the smugness in the world, completely ignoring how their lips were just locked together a few moments ago. "It’s only right for the losers to submit to the winners."

"Maybe you guys can go on a date," Naruto jabs before mockingly puckering his lips.

Sasuke, still on his back, leans on his elbow to glare at Naruto. "More like you should go on one with Hinata."

Naruto's eyes widen, and he grows somewhat bashful. Hinata isn't much better, turning beet red and averting her eyes. The two of them look so awkward together that it borders on gross; no, it is gross. Grosser than the metallic taste in his mouth. 

"I apologize, Sakura," Shino says, breaking the pregnant silence. "But we won the bet, so that means you have to be my servant."

Sakura sighs, sitting next to Sasuke and stretching her arms with a yawn. "It's fine. It's part of the bet after all."

"What’s this about a bet?" a feminine voice asks. 

A girl that looks to be about Itachi’s age comes into focus from behind Naruto and Kiba; there’s also noises coming from both of her arms, animal noises to be exact. Akamaru is cuddled up in one of her arms, while Take is in the other. Both of the animals snarl noises at each other, but this time it seems more friendly than competitive with each other. 

Honestly, Sasuke totally forgot about Take during his bout with Kiba, but at least Sakura didn’t seem to notice. 

Kiba stands straight up as he acknowledges the girl, slinging a friendly arm around Naruto’s shoulder. “Oh, hey Sis! Bet? What bet? None of us were talking about a bet!” 

“Uh huh,” she drawls, unimpressed. “Well, Mom’s taking a look at the cat that was in the carrier. Was she a part of your mission? Or Itachi’s brothers’?”

“Ours. Yup, that cat was ours. Actually, I think Sasuke wanted to talk to you or something about that panda. Right, Sasuke?”

Kiba’s sister directs her eyes to Sasuke, who’s still lying on the ground and questioning what events in his life led him to this moment. “Hn.” 

“What he means to say is that we would greatly appreciate it if you took a look at Take,” Sakura amends.

“Take, hmm?” She brings him up closer to her face. “Sure. Let’s go inside, children. This area is for the dogs.”

Like obedient little animals, all six of them follow Kiba’s sister back into the clinic. Kiba slaps Sasuke on the back and winks before walking in, leaving Sasuke to wonder if it would be plausible to simply not leave his room for a week. Then Naruto slaps him on the back and winks, too, probably acknowledging that Sasuke got the worst slavedriver of them all. Maybe a month would be better. But even that may not be enough.

The world would definitely be a better place if it was a cat-lick-cat world; competitiveness is overrated anyways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have no fear; actual romance comes after time skip.


	13. Renewed Rain

> Dear Lord Hokage:
> 
> I would first like to extend warm greetings to you as Yahiko, the new Leader of the Hidden Rain Village. 
> 
> Second, while my team and I had the intention of amending our relationship with the Leaf first, it has come to our attention that the previous Hidden Rain leader, Hanzo of the Salamander, created conflict in our neighboring Hidden Grass Village, prompting the Grass Daimyo to request annexation into one of the Great Nations. 
> 
> The Hidden Rain would be happy to host a summit with the Five Great Nations in order to promote a future of discourse in the Shinobi World. We don’t expect that all five Kage will attend, but we hope that a representative from each village is at least sent. As well as discussing the future of the Hidden Grass, we would like to discuss a proposal: The creation of the Akatsuki—an international organization that meets once every quarter in order to further promote discourse among the nations and hidden villages. 
> 
> I, along with the Hidden Rain Council, would appreciate an expedited response, and we are looking forward to our nations’ future relationship.
> 
> Sincerely,  
>  Yahiko, the Leader of the Hidden Rain  
>  —a letter addressed to the Hokage

\---

Hiruzen heaves a heavy sigh when his daughter storms into his office. For the past few weeks, this event has become nearly a consistent part of his day, except for when she’s away on missions of course. 

“I’m sorry, but I can’t,” Hiruzen says preemptively. 

And just like every other time that this has happened, Miku stomps over to him and stares him down from his cross legged position on the ground. She looks similar to her mother, which makes Hiruzen reminisce about his late wife from time to time, usually when he least expects the sudden flood of memories. Although, her outfit is entirely different since she’s not only an Anbu agent, but an Anbu Squad Captain, while Biwako was a medical ninja. 

She’s the one to break their stare down as she closes her eyes before taking her hair tie off and releasing her hair from its high ponytail, breaking the facade of her looking like a replica of Biwako with some of Hiruzen’s own features like hair color. Her hair cascades down her shoulders as she combs her hands through it. 

Hiruzen sighs. “My office isn’t a locker room, Miku. It’s down the hall.”

She ignores him as she kneels down in front of him, a sign that she’s going to stay a while. She starts picking at her nails, so Hiruzen just shakes his head as he goes back to reading through the scroll that’s in front of him. It’s a mundane report from one of the Anbu squads, so Hiruzen stamps his seal on it and waits for it to dry before rolling it up. 

He itches to take out the pipe snuggled securely in his robes, but he realizes it isn’t worth the scrutiny and lecture by his own daughter. 

“Isn’t Itachi turning 18 in a few months?” Miku asks, looking up from her nails. 

“I’m not making him Anbu Commander,” Hiruzen coughs. “The Uchiha cannot be Hokage, Police Chief, and _Anbu Commander_.”

Miku rolls her eyes. “You’re already 69, Father! Konohamaru misses you, just retire already before it’s already too late.”

“You already know that I intend to keep this job for at least another decade. Unless, of course—”

“Jiraiya accepts my offer to take the job,” Miku finishes in a poor attempt at mimicking his voice. “You may as well just say, ‘unless we become allies with the Stone.’ We both know neither of these things will happen anytime soon.”

Hiruzen shakes his head, unrolling another scroll. “I would also retire if _you_ became my successor.”

“I love the village, but I love Konohamaru more.”

Hiruzen snaps his eyes up from the scroll he’s looking at. “The village is family, Miku. Why don’t you understand that?”

“That philosophy’s fine when you’re the Hokage, but you’re not anymore. Just get off your high horse and become Konohamaru’s grandfather for once! You already took away his father anyways.”

The last sentence is a direct jab at Hiruzen’s heart. Hiruzen knew walking into the job that, while not being as ruthless as Danzo, he would need to be much harsher than he was as Hokage. He never expected that would require him to greenlight a mission leading to his son-in-law’s death. 

“I’m sorry, Miku.”

“Of course,” Miku says, voice dripping with animosity. “Who cares if it was my husband, Konohamaru’s dad, and your son-in-law? It was for the good of the village after all.”

“I—”

“Um, excuse us, but are we interrupting something?” Kakashi says, popping his head into the doorway. 

“Of course not,” Hiruzen says, staring down his daughter’s defiance. 

Kakashi and Itachi walk into the room and bow before sitting cross legged next to Miku. It’s only after a couple of moments does Hiruzen realize that Kakashi isn’t an Anbu agent anymore, and that something is definitely abnormal. 

“I’m assuming that I’m welcome here, too?” Miku asks, raising an eyebrow. 

“Yes,” Itachi replies. “You’ll know soon enough as an Anbu Captain anyways.”

“Then, please. Speak,” Hiruzen gruffly says, actually pulling out and lighting his pipe this time. Miku scrunches up her nose, but otherwise doesn’t say anything now that other people are in the room. 

Kakashi hands him a scroll, and Hiruzen listens and reads about Team 7’s mission to the Hidden Grass and the debacle that happened with Hanzo. 

“Is the Grass Daimyo safe?” Hiruzen asks when the two prodigies finish their tale. 

“Yes, most of the casualties were of Rain shinobi, but a few Grass shinobi did receive injury, as well. So far, there are no reported civilian casualties.”

Hiruzen hums, while rubbing at his goatee. “What about the Rain? Who’s leading it right now, if anyone?”

“That,” Kakashi says, “we do not currently know. But they’ve never been the most transparent village, anyways.”

Hiruzen guffaws as he nods, knowing first hand how paranoid Hanzo is from the Second and Third Wars. 

“So what happens now?” Miku asks. “Is it back to the status quo just like that?”

“We can hope it is,” Hiruzen says. “And I’m assuming Jiraiya’s reporting the same information to Orochimaru?”

“Supposedly,” Kakashi says, and honestly, that’s probably good enough. 

There’s a knock at the door, and an Anbu agent enters and bows when Hiruzen tells him to enter. He walks up to Hiruzen and bows again when giving him a letter. “Sir, this is a letter addressed to the Hokage from the Hidden Rain. Per Lord Hokage’s instructions before he left, you and Lord Orochimaru are the de facto leaders of the Leaf, so we are delivering the letters to the both of you. This is the original and Lord Orochimaru has a copy of it.”

“Thank you.”

The agent body flickers away, and Hiruzen is left with three curious faces and a curious letter in front of him. 

“Speak of the Sage,” Kakashi says. “I guess we’re about to find out who’s leading the Rain.”

Hiruzen opens the letter and reads it aloud, trusting the three shinobi in front of him to not spill any information recklessly. Hiruzen finishes reading and blinks down at the letter as the room descends into silence. 

“That's…” Miku says, “rather ambitious.”

“I think it’s a great idea,” Itachi says, finally taking off his mask like he just realized he still had it on. Hiruzen is taken aback by surprise at seeing the boyish glee in Itachi’s eyes. Kakashi looks more cynical, the visible part of his face not showing any signs of excitement at the proposition. 

“Maybe you can be the Leaf’s representative,” Hiruzen muses, puffing out a cloud of smoke. 

Kakashi hums as Itachi vehemently shakes his head. “I’ll vouch for you, too, Itachi. I’m sure that the Hokage will surely pick you if you're that excited about it.”

“I don’t know if I should bear that much responsibility. Maybe Lord Orochimaru can attend?”

Hiruzen cackles. “He has enough on his plate. I don’t think he has the time to join this ‘Akatsuki’ even if he wanted to.”

“Yeah, because Orochimaru never sleeps,” Miku mutters. “If he’s not in his office, then he’s always in his lab.”

“Well, nevertheless,” Hiruzen says, “thank you, Kakashi, Itachi. I’ll meet up with Orochimaru later so that we can brief the Hokage and rest of the council when he returns. You two—no, all three of you are dismissed.”

Kakashi and Itachi give him a brief nod before body flickering away. Miku, however, exits with one last jab. “Maybe you can finally formally ask Jiraiya if he wants the job, Father.”

Hiruzen rubs at his temples as he truly considers retirement for the first time in the last decade. Maybe it’s time for the Professor to gracefully bow down to the next generations. With the Sannin, Itachi, Kakashi, and countless others waiting in line, Hiruzen becomes less and less worried with each passing day. 

As Orochimaru always says, “The next generation always surpasses the last.” 

\---

> Jiraiya-sensei!
> 
> Hey, it’s Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan, and we’re the new leaders of the Hidden Rain! We don’t know if you found out or not, but we’re asking the five great nations to meet up for a summit so fingers crossed >.<
> 
> If you’re not busy, we would welcome you to the Rain anytime so that you can see the fruits of our labor and everything that you’ve inspired. If not, please write to us so that we can know how you’re doing!
> 
> We’ve worked so hard these past years, but the real work is yet to come!
> 
> Best Regards!  
>  Yahiko, Nagato, Konan
> 
> PS: It’s me, Yahiko, writing this letter if you couldn’t tell :)  
>  —an extra letter sent along with the Leaf’s missive 

\---

Jiraiya knocks on Orochimaru’s lab door with a heavy knuckle. Even after all these years, it’s a wonder how the Leaf never truly changes. Sure, new buildings are always built, and the winding roads sometimes lead to new destinations, but there’s no place like home. A place where someone still thinks about you is a place you can call home, and Jiraiya knows that the Hidden Leaf is certainly that place for him, no matter how much he tries to avoid it. 

And speaking of home, a certain snake man opens the door, stares at Jiraiya like he’s just risen from the dead, and slams the door in his face. Jiraiya chuckles at this little ceremony that takes place every time he visits Orochimaru. 

Jiraiya waits exactly five seconds before twisting the door knob open and letting himself in like it’s his own home. Immediately, a whiff of something nasty enters his nose, causing him to gag. 

“What in the world are you doing, Orochimaru?” Jiraiya calls out into the room. 

A phrase to describe Orochimaru’s home-slash-laboratory is: organized chaos. Stacks of paper and scrolls litter every table and available surface. Jars of questionable integrity and items of intrigue are strewn all around on various shelves. The walls have charts, photos, and displays of dubious taxidermy. And that’s only the “living room”. 

Jiraiya would never dare step foot into Orochimaru’s bedroom or home office. And now that he thinks about it, probably nobody except for Orochimaru himself has ever been in his bedroom—which is such a sad way to live life. 

“I’m dissecting your kin,” Orochimaru replies from within the lab room. 

Jiraiya isn’t sure if he really wants to know, but he has important information for his ex-teammate, so he holds his breath as he steps foot into the lab room. 

There, in a white lab coat and his hair tied into a ponytail, Orochimaru is standing at a counter dissecting frogs and scribbling on a scroll. 

Goosebumps pop up over his arms as Jiraiya experiences a full body shiver. “Are you doing this just to spite me?”

Orochimaru cackles, not pausing his handiwork. “I wish. This is just a fortunate coincidence.” 

“Well, I have a report for you.” Jiraiya tosses Orochimaru a scroll, and he catches it with his tongue. Honestly, Jiraiya’s just used to it by now. 

He sets it on a clean part of the countertop and unravels it as Jiraiya pulls over a stool to sit across from Orochimaru to go over what happened with Kakashi’s team and Hanzo and the Hidden Grass. 

“I wonder how Fugaku’s going to react, nearly leaving his kids to what could’ve been the start of the Fourth War,” Orochimaru muses. 

“Honestly,” Jiraiya says, leaning his head in his hand, “he might be amused that his kids were so close to a village invasion.”

“Although, it is regretful that I wasn’t there to fight Hanzo, too. It’s humiliating that he didn’t kill us during the Second War.” 

“Sheesh, just be happy to be alive for once, Orochimaru. I’m always willing to take you to a club, you know.” 

“No,” Orochimaru says, staring directly in his eyes as he cuts open another frog. “Anyways, who’s leading the Rain? I wouldn’t be surprised if that place is in turmoil now that their beloved Hanzo is dead.”

“We don’t know yet. As you say, the place might be too hostile to try and investigate.” 

Orochimaru hums. 

Jiraiya looks around at the sterile lab room. Surprisingly, it’s much cleaner than the living room with the exception charts being laid about all over.

“Itachi told me that you tightened Naruto’s seal.”

This makes Orochimaru stop working as he blows a puff of air out of his mouth and looks up at Jiraiya. “That’s what I attempted to do, yes. But it probably failed if he activated his initial jinchuriki form like the report says.”

“You know…” Jiraiya looks up at the ceiling. “Instead of tightening it, what’s stopping us from having him master the jinchuriki forms?”

“Well, obviously we were considering it, but the boy just became a shinobi,” Orochimaru says, pointing his scalpel at Jiraiya. “Besides, we don’t have a precedent for using the Nine-Tails for combat since Mito and Kushina were just containers. I don’t know if you forgot, Jiraiya, but the Nine-Tails killed the Fourth Hokage—your student.”

“I see.”

The two of them fall into a sustained silence until a knock at the door causes Jiraiya to raise his eyebrow.

“Are you expecting somebody?”

“It was seven knocks,” Orochimaru mutters. “It’s an Anbu messenger.”

And just like that, an Anbu agent body flickers into the room and bows before them; well, bows before Orochimaru but Jiraiya likes to think that it’s directed towards him, too. 

The agent holds out a letter as he begins speaking. “Sir, this is a letter addressed to the Hokage from the Hidden Rain. Per Lord Hokage’s instructions before he left, you and Lord Hiruzen are the de facto leaders of the Leaf, so we are delivering the letters to the both of you. This is a copy and Lord Hiruzen has the original.” Surprisingly, the agent turns towards Jiraiya after giving Orochimaru the letter. “Sir, there was also an extra letter addressed to you.”

Jiraiya accepts it, and the agent body flickers away, turning back into thin air like the Anbu are. The two of them read their respective letters, and afterwards, they wordlessly exchange them. 

After reading both, Jiraiya slaps a hand to his forehead. “They actually did it. Those kids actually did it.”

Orochimaru cackles as he leans on the counter and shakes his head. “For once I was wrong. Maybe it was actually better not to kill them.”

“Of course! Don’t ever say that again about three of my beloved students.”

“You’re so insatiable, taking on students left and right. I still think that ‘Child of Prophecy’ is bullshit spewed from a demented old toad.”

“You say that, but just watch one of them save the world!” Jiraiya gets up from the stool and stretches his hands over his head. “Anyways, I need to deliver Hanzo’s body and the other captured Rain shinobi to Intelligence.” 

Orochimaru scoffs. “Then send Anko my regards. She decided to abandon me to join Torture and Interrogation.”

Jiraiya blinks when a lightbulb goes off in his head. “Hey, it’s just a thought, but maybe you can take Karin under your wing? You need a new assistant, and she needs something to do, so it’s a win-win.”

Orochimaru, looking back down at his lab work, simply says, “I’ll consider asking.” 

Jiraiya nods as he leaves Orochimaru’s dwelling to visit Inoichi over at Intelligence. He has a skip in his step as he walks, still thinking about how those three Hidden Rain brats actually did it.

\---

Karin scowls as she follows the police officer to the station. Shisui, his name is, stops every couple of seconds to greet officers, shinobi, and civilians alike, discriminating against nobody over his ability to address everybody by their name and even spicing every brief conversation up with a specific detail about who he’s talking to. 

By the tenth person, Karin speaks up. “Are we going to the station or not, Mr. Popular?”

Shisui puts both hands up placating. "Sorry, sorry. But it’s part of the job."

"How exactly is socializing 'part of the job'?"

"My job is protecting the citizens of the Leaf, so I should at least know who I'm protecting, right?"

"That's… nevermind."

Karin doesn’t even remember if the Hidden Grass had a police force in the first place, much less if they actually knew who they were protecting. 

"Well, soon you'll be a citizen of the Leaf, so you can count on me to keep you safe, too!"

Karin doesn’t respond as the two of them continue walking to the station. Shisui calms down a bit, only imparting handshakes and high fives instead of making conversation, but his lackadaisical strut is still present. 

Finally, they make it to the police station, and Shisui holds open the door for her and extravagantly gestures for her to go inside. She rolls her eyes and grimaces when she sees the swath of people filling the lobby and line for the front desks. Shisui hovers a hand over her back, something she’s grateful for, as he directs her over to a set of available visitor chairs. 

“Wait right here for a bit while I scavenge for the necessary paperwork. Since it’s such a nice day, I was hoping we can fill it out outside. Is that cool?”

“Sure.”

Shisui snaps his fingers. “I’ll be right back.”

Karin descends onto one of the chairs as the man disappears behind the counter, and just like the lobby chairs in the Grass Hospital, it’s incredibly uncomfortable. She takes off her glasses to wipe them with her shirt when a trio of ninja that looks to be around her age walks over to the three empty chairs next to her. 

“That was actually sooo boring,” a blonde girl says as she plops on the chair directly next to her. 

“It was a bother, but it was necessary,” a boy with a pineapple haircut says. “At least Asuma-sensei is handling the mission report this time.” 

“Mhm, we should ask sensei to buy us barbeque,” a chubby boy says through munching on potato chips. “We’ve been working hard.”

The blonde scoffs. “You mean you and me, Choji.” She snaps her fingers. “Shikamaru has done more resting than working.”

The pineapple head—or Shikamaru, Karin supposes—yawns into his hand. “It’s too much of a bother. Besides, I trust you two to get it done.”

The blonde exaggerates a sigh as she sinks down into her chair. Even Karin can see how pretty she is, with platinum blonde hair and crisp blue eyes. _Her skin is probably untarnished by the bite of uncaring shinobi, too_ , Karin thinks, subconsciously pulling her sleeve further up her arm. 

Ino suddenly starts sniffing like a piglet, and when Karin lifts her eyes, she meets wide, electric blue eyes and rather bubbly chakra. 

“Is that lavender perfume?” the girl asks, sitting up. “It has a lovely aroma.”

“Yeah, it is,” Karin mutters, shrinking back from the girl’s radiating brilliance. 

It’s a futile effort, however, because the blonde shoots out her hand in greeting. “I don’t believe we’ve met before. I’m Yamanaka Ino!”

Karin takes a hold of her hand and winces when Ino grabs it and takes it in an iron grip. Fortunately, she realizes and loosens her grip after a moment. “Sorry, but what was your name?”

“Karin.”

“Hey! Shikamaru, Choji, introduce yourselves!”

“They don’t—”

Shikamaru puts one hand up, not even bothering to wave it. “Nara Shikamaru.” 

As Ino rolls her eyes, the other boy leans forward in his seat since he’s the farthest away from Karin. He stretches his chip bag over his companions. “I’m Akimichi Choji, want a chip?” he asks. “Just don’t take the last piece!” he finishes with a laugh. 

“No… thank you,” Karin replies, even though this boy might have the kindest chakra she’s ever felt.

“So, Karin,” Ino starts with a flashing grin, “what business do you have at the police station? Have you gotten into any mischief recently?” she asks, wiggling her eyebrows. 

Karin debates whether to lie or tell the truth. In a major hidden village what are the chances that she’ll ever meet these people ever again? As she thinks about, she realizes that the answer is pretty damn high. Karin is 99% certain that this Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji are the same Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji that Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto would occasionally mention in passing when they were trekking back from the Leaf.

“Immigration.”

Ino’s eyes nearly pop out of their sockets. “That’s so fascinating! Can I ask from where?”

“The Grass.”

This time it’s Choji that gets excited. He snaps his flavor dusted fingers and points them at Karin. “They’re supposedly famous for their bamboo shoots! Do they taste any different than the ones here, Karin? Mhm, I’ve always wanted to try them.”

“I don’t know.”

Ino hums. “Bamboo blossoms aren’t exactly the prettiest, but they get the job done I suppose.” 

For some reason, that strikes a nerve, which isn’t necessarily the fault of Ino. Karin has never been the prettiest flower in the hospital, but as she’s been reminded of time and time again, she gets the job done. She does the healing that no doctor or medical ninja can perform. Karin isn’t exactly the prettiest, but she gets the job done. 

“Well, anyways,” Ino continues, filling in for Karin’s silence, “Asuma-sensei is coming back, but we should definitely hang out sometime and go shopping or something. Just swing by the Yamanaka Compound anytime and tell me your address when you find a place to live!” 

Karin nods as a gruff man returns from the front desk to collect his students. Ino waves her goodbye, while the boys give her curt nods. As fast as they came, they leave, leaving Karin all alone again. 

“Those are Sasuke and Naruto’s former classmates, I think,” Shisui says, suddenly next to her and causing Karin to nearly jump out of her skin. “Sorry, I’m quite fond of the Body Flicker, so this happens a lot.”

Karin nods as she follows Shisui to a picnic table in front of the police station. He drops a folder of paper onto the table with a _thud_ and sits down with a heavy sigh. 

“I’m sorry, I haven’t quite asked yet, but you are coming to the Leaf as an unaccompanied minor, correct?”

“Yes.”

Shisui clears his throat and says in a dry voice, “Per the Hokage’s Protection of Orphans Act, I, Uchiha Shisui—with the consent of the sponsor, Jiraiya—hereby proclaim myself to be your commissioner as long as you remain loyal to the Village Hidden in the Leaves.”

“What is this?”

“It’s a part of the Protection of Orphans Act. Since orphans aren’t necessarily rare in a hidden village, there are certain safeguards to protect them, like each kid having a police officer that protects them until they reach the age of majority. We um…” Shisui starts drumming his pen on the side of the table “...used to have a problem with orphans either getting neglected or inducted into the Anbu. There’s usually a whole process over assigning officers, but if you’re so close to Sasuke and Naruto, I thought that I’ll just take you under my wing.”

“Oh.”

There are no such precautions in the Hidden Grass. Once somebody becomes an orphan, they are left to fend for themselves, just as Karin has firsthand experience with.

“Yeah, there was this whole debate over the Act a few years ago. I think it was one of the most stressful things Uncle Hokage had to do during his reign since there was such a clear schism between the commanders who pushed hard for the policy, Orochiamaru and Hiruzen, and the warhawk-ish senior advisors, Koharu and Homura. To this day, I don’t think those two elders are over that particular defeat. I’m boring you, aren’t I? Sorry, I like talking if you haven't noticed.”

“I wasn’t listening anyways,” Karin lies

“Well, anyways,” Shisui says, flicking through papers and scribbling things down every now and then. “Those apartments over there”—he points over her shoulder with his pen to a set of buildings across the street from the police station—“are where you’ll be staying. You’ll live rent free until you subsequently get kicked out the moment you reach the age of majority, so I suggest you try and keep some savings. Speaking of money, your weekly allowance will barely afford your meals, so you should also think about employment…”

And for the rest of the day, Karin is taken under Shisui’s wing as she adjusts to life in the Hidden Leaf. A village that she’ll hopefully be able to call home one day, and a life that she’ll hopefully be proud of by the time she passes into the next world. For once in her life, Karin is excited—not anxious—about what tomorrow brings. 

\---

By the time Sasuke and Naruto arrive back home after going to the vet and then walking Sakura home, Sasuke’s nearly dead on his feet. Even the usually jubilant Naruto seems exhausted as they walk through the gate of their traditional-styled home deep in the Uchiha district. 

When Sasuke reaches out to open the door, it flies open before he can even touch the knob, and a whirlwind of black hair sweeps Sasuke and his brother into a tight hug. 

"I still can't believe Fugaku sent you two on a C-Rank mission! I've been so lonely since all of my boys were out of the village."

Naruto’s muffled greeting comes out as, “Mhey, Mom!”

Sasuke follows suit, echoing, “Hi, Mom.”

She releases them from her death grip only to grab each of their shoulders and stare them directly in the eye with eyes that are infinitely kinder than their father’s. 

She then scrunches up her nose after a steady moment. “The both of you need to take a bath. Even when on a mission, don’t forget your hygiene!” 

“Well, things happened, y’know,” Naruto says nonchalantly, but not nonchalantly enough. 

Sasuke stomps on Naruto’s foot as a wry grin spreads on their mom’s face. “While one of you freshens up, the other will help me finish up the cookies I started for a nice little catching up session.”

“You went first last time, Sasuke!” Naruto accuses, toeing off his shoes and running into the house. 

“Perfect!” Mikoto claps her hands. “I’m looking forward to your help, Sasuke dear!” 

Sasuke tsks as he takes off his shoes, too, and follows his mom into the kitchen after dropping off his bag in his room. 

“Can you get the vanilla extract in the cupboard, please?”

Sasuke nods, walking over to the pantry to grab the requested item as well as dried seaweed to snack on. He sets the bottle on the counter next to his mom and rips open the seaweed packaging, offering her a piece. She politely declines and pours in some of the strong smelling extract, not measuring it whatsoever, a trait that she shares with Itachi when baking. 

“Can you go heat up the kettle, my little helper?”

With a piece of seaweed sticking out of his mouth, Sasuke goes to fill up the kettle at the sink, mindlessly staring out the window as he does so. Since it’s spring, the tomato plants that he’s growing seem to be flourishing decently enough; they’re not dead yet at least. Unlike people, plants are simple. They’re not annoying, and they don’t place unreasonable expectations on people. 

“Sasuke dear,” Mikoto says while pointing her mixing spoon at his hands, “it’s overflowing.”

Sasuke looks down, and surely enough, the kettle is flooded with water. Even more surprising is that there seems to be two sources for the water: the faucet and his very own face. His mom tales the kettle from his hands and sets it on the countertop next to the sink, not bothering to walk the few feet away from Sasuke to set it on the stove.

She sweeps some of his side bangs with a gentle hand, and Sasuke catches a faint whiff of her aromatic perfume. 

“Is something bothering you?”

No.

That would be the easy answer, but Sasuke can’t bring himself to lie to his mom. He could never bring himself to lie to her, no matter how embarrassing or infuriating the confession was. But what he can do is say nothing at all, and that’s the path he chooses. 

Sasuke digs his face into his mom’s shoulder as she brings up comforting arms to wrap him in a hug. It isn’t until she starts rubbing circles on his back does he get reminded of his childish innocence under a mother’s touch and freely allows the tears to stream down his cheek and onto her apron strap. 

For Sasuke, there’s no safer feeling than with his mom, so he brings all of his walls down and tells her everything through wrecked sobs and hiccups. “I—I can’t! I’ll never catch up to Naruto and Itachi; they’re too fucking far away, mom! Th-They’re monsters! Naruto had this prickly aura around him, and then healed so fast, while he saved Sakura from near death. And then… And then Itachi is the _genius of the Uchiha_ that become an Anbu squad captain before the age of 18. I just can’t. I can’t even beat fucking Kiba in taijutsu!” 

“Sasuke dear,” his mom says in a lighty breath. She breaks their hug and squats down so that she’s looking up at Sasuke and not the other way around, just as she always did when Sasuke was a little kid that went crying to mama. “First of all, mind your language. I’ll let it slide this once. But more importantly, your brothers are your brothers, and you are you. Trust me, I think I know my own children very well. You’re not Itachi or Naruto”—she jabs her index finger to the spot over his heart—“you’re Sasuke. Instead of chasing, why don’t you try walking beside them. It would make me the proudest mother in the world to see my three kids walking side-by-side, locked in step.”

“But I’m neither a genius nor whatever Naruto is,” Sasuke mutters, puffing his cheeks like a pufferfish. 

“Why did you even fight Tsume’s son anyways? I know you, Sasuke. You don’t like taijutsu, you never did. Rather than practice taijutsu with Itachi and Naruto, you went to the kyudo range with me or practiced shurikenjutsu.” 

“I wanted to test myself.” And the moment he says it, he feels foolish. 

Mikoto hums as she tilts her head to the side. “Let’s see if you remember your Academy training: If Itachi excels at genjutsu, and Naruto excels at taijutsu, what is the last main jutsu category of being a shinobi?”

Sasuke rolls his eyes, feeling like he’s being lectured. “Ninjutsu.” 

“Sasuke dear, what’s your favorite skill to study?”

“Ninjutsu.”

His mom looks at him with such a knowing look that he has to look away while he wipes away at the last remnants of his tears. 

His mom, however, doesn’t let him get away as she wipes at a particularly wet spot on his cheek with her thumb. “I know what your father tells you, but don’t be afraid to cry, Sasuke. It’s best to let out the pressure piecemeal before the bottle explodes in your face.”

“Hn,” Sasuke waits a solid moment before he continues. “I love you, mom.”

Mikoto’s smile shines radiantly. “I know, Sasuke. I love you, too. Always.”

Sasuke crosses his arms over his chest as his mom gets up from squatting and wipes at invisible dust in front of her apron. She goes to fill up the kettle correctly, while Sasuke makes evenly sized dough balls to place on the baking tray. He fills up an entire tray as Naruto walks into the room with damp hair and a killer smile. 

“I’m done, Sasuke. I did it nice and quick just for you, y’know!”

Sasuke nods, shying his face away from his brother as he walks past him to take a much needed shower. As he makes it to the hallway, he can already hear Naruto and their mom laughing about something—the soft melody of Naruto’s boisterous laugh and their mom’s soft giggles telling Sasuke that he’s truly come home. 

Sasuke can’t fathom a universe where he doesn’t have his mom to support him, and where Naruto isn’t his brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that’s the end of the Hidden Grass Mission. It has taught me a very important lesson; I should probably plan future arcs/plot points better lol. Anyways, if you’ve stuck with me this far, I really appreciate it! If you’re curious, the next few chapters will be more minor missions/slice of life before the next like _thing_ happens. And the next chapter will be Kakashi teaching Team 7 the Body Flicker, so that should be fun.


	14. What’s Under the Mask?

> Team Observations  
>  Naruto:  
>  -half Uzumaki, not at all like Sensei  
>  -yells his jutsu names  
>  -Shadow Clone Jutsu (Did Lord Hokage teach him it?)  
>  - ~~rushes into battle~~ did Masato fix this?  
>  -Nine-Tails Jinchuriki  
>  \--activated Tailed Beast chakra; healed fast  
>  -had a spat with Sasuke, seems to have reconciled  
>  -make him a frontline shinobi? definitely not a good fit for the Anbu  
>  \--kenjutsu? taijutsu?  
>  \--probably not a good fit for genjutsu  
>  \--too sloppy and thoughtless in how many clones he makes, wasteful; talk to him about it later  
>  -wants to become Hokage
> 
> Sasuke:  
>  -has the Sharingan, Fireball Jutsu, and Lightning Ball Jutsu  
>  -natural affinity with the Lighting Style  
>  \--said a kind old man lent him a chakra paper when he was younger and taught him the Lightning Ball Jutsu after seeing him struggle with the Fireball Jutsu (was it Lord Hiruzen? Who else would care for a random kid like that?)  
>  \--remember to check the affinities of the other two  
>  -kept pestering me about my Sharingan; should I tell him about Obito and Team Minato?  
>  -don’t really know what to have him specialize in  
>  \--make him a generalist?  
>  \--a prime candidate to teach the Chidori to, if he wants to learn it  
>  -maybe he can be an Anbu candidate? Or a police officer?  
>  -doesn’t have a specific goal in mind
> 
> Sakura:  
>  -not from a major shinobi clan  
>  -has a close friendship with Sasuke, more distant with Naruto  
>  -seems to have fully recovered from her injury  
>  \--I failed as a sensei  
>  -wants to learn hair techniques from Lord Jiraiya  
>  \--defensive shinobi? teach her genjutsu?  
>  \--ask Kurenai or Itachi about it later  
>  -maybe she can be an Anbu candidate? Or a police officer?  
>  -Take has taken a liking to her
> 
> Overall:  
>  -a good group of kids  
>  -has the potential to walk in the league of the Sannin  
>  \--I just better never become Hokage
> 
> —Kakashi’s team observations, scribbled onto the back pages of _Makeout Paradise_

\---

It’s been two days since they returned to the Leaf and not much has happened; Kakashi gave them the day off yesterday, their father hasn’t returned from visiting the daimyo yet, and Naruto is unequivocally bored as he stares up at his wooden bedroom ceiling. 

Since they live in a traditional-style house, Naruto’s room lacks the personality he otherwise would’ve given it. His mom vetoed the decision to decorate the walls with posters and memorabilia on the basis of keeping the “integrity of the house”, whatever that means. So instead, Naruto has two banners hanging up, the Hidden Leaf symbol and the Uzumaki swirl, and only a few personal items here-and-there, disregarding his clothes. 

He rolls off of his futon, deciding to worry about rolling up the finicky thing later and praying to whoever’s listening that his mom won’t find out. Naruto has a penchant for _doing things later_. He’ll take a shower later. He’ll fold his laundry later. He’ll wash his bedsheets later. The problem lies in the fact that his mom is the type of person that wants things done _now_.

With bleary eyes and relying mostly on muscle memory, Naruto tiptoes to the kitchen, fully understanding that he’s in a house literally full of shinobi: A Hokage father (who’s not supposed to be home right now), a jonin mother, an Anbu older brother, and a genin younger brother. He makes it to the fridge and grins to himself when he grabs what he’s looking for: a nice, full canister of whipped cream, clearly labeled with Itachi’s name on it. Honestly, he’s a little surprised that nobody catches— 

“It’s a little early for that, hmm, Naruto dear,” his mom says, body flickering to his side as he nearly jumps out of his skin. She leans onto the counter as a small smile graces her face. Other than her apron, she’s fully dressed for the day. She has on a purple blouse, a plume skirt, and a string of pearls around her neck. 

Naruto shoves his index finger against his lips as he cautiously looks around the kitchen. “Shhh, I’m gonna prank Sasuke, y’know!”

“You mean ‘we’, my dear son,” Mikoto says, tapping Naruto on the nose with a cold finger. 

The two of them creep back to the hallway after Naruto shakes the can in the kitchen, and Mikoto delicately slide’s Sasuke’s door open. She peeks inside and waves Naruto in with a small flick of her fingers, acting like they're on an S-Rank mission. 

Walking in, Sasuke’s room has the exact same dimensions of Naruto’s, but it’s mirrored. Instead of the closet being on the right side, it’s on the left. And instead of his futon being rolled out on the left side, it’s rolled out on the right. 

One noticeable difference, however, is the stuffed snake tucked away in the corner of Sasuke’s room that he always calls “too much of a hassle to remove.” It’s as big as a toddler, coiled-up, and has a forked tongue sticking out of its mouth as it watches over Sasuke’s room like a guardian angel. In the same corner of Naruto’s room, all he has is a training dummy, but he’s always wanted to get an animal to match Sasuke. 

Sasuke’s curled up under his blanket, so with the delicacy of a practiced shinobi, Mikoto pulls out one of his hands from his chest without even making him flinch in his sleep, making Naruto wonder if she’s ever done the same thing to him without him realizing it. His fear is interrupted when she jerks her head, flickering her eyes to Naruto, so he squirts a healthy dollop of whipped cream onto his brother's hand. 

Their mom scratches at Sasuke’s nose with a feather that she pulled out of thin air, and he slaps his whipped cream covered hand over his face, spraying the white cream over its entirety and causing him to jolt straight up from within his sheets. 

“Naruto!” Sasuke yells, not even opening his eyes yet. Of course Sasuke would automatically assume that it’s him, but what he doesn’t know is that Naruto has a co-conspirator this time. “I swear one of these days…” 

Discreetly, but not nearly as discreetly enough, Sasuke licks some stray whipped cream around his lips like a cat, making a face as he tastes the sweetness. Sasuke is one lucky goose that Naruto decided to use whipped cream instead of their dad’s shaving cream. Shaving cream does not taste good, and there’s absolutely, positively no particular reason as to why Naruto knows this. 

Naruto cowers behind their mom with a meek grin as she giggles and throws Sasuke a towel from within her apron. He catches it with ease and wipes at his face with a precise touch while he crosses his legs to sit criss-cross applesauce.

"One of these days,” Mikoto stage whispers as she daintily sits beside Sasuke, “we’ll get Naruto good. I swear.” 

Naruto scoffs as he holds his hands behind his neck while leaning against the wall. Naruto has nothing to worry about because Sasuke doesn't have a pranking bone in his body. Every cell in his body is made with deadbeat seriousness that can overshadow any clan head.

“Anyways,” Mikoto continues, “I won’t be home for dinner, so why don’t you go to your aunty’s restaurant! She specifically invited us since some of your uncles are going hunting today, but I’ll be out the whole day.”

“What are you doing today?” Sasuke politely asks as he folds up the towel into a neat triangle. Sasuke’s always been a mama’s boy, and even a blind man can see it.

“Remember what I always tell you? Be kind to every Leaf shinobi. Today, I’m shadowing a pair of chunin to see if I should recommend them for a jonin promotion.” Mikoto wags her finger. “You never know who’ll be in charge of your jonin promotion, so be kind to every Leaf shinobi!” 

“Yes, Mom,” Naruto and Sasuke say in unison, immediately jinxing each other, again, in unison. 

“I said if first, y’know!”

“No you didn’t, you idi—Naruto.”

Naruto definitely hears the unsaid insult, but he appreciates the effort. Even if he may be a dumbass idiot, that doesn’t mean he enjoys being called one by one of his closest friends and literal brother. 

“Well, I believe that I supersede both of you, and I think that you need to get ready for the day.”

Sasuke nods, jumping up from his position on the futon. “Put my futon away, Naruto. My face is sticky.”

After he leaves, their mom looks at Naruto with a knowing look. “If I go to your room right now, is your own futon put away, too?”

“Aaaaahhhh.” Naruto flails his hands, blocking his mom at the door. “Mom, why don’t you have your morning tea? It’s kind of cold, isn’t it?”

“Uh huh.” 

\---

At their designated meeting spot on a little bridge, Sasuke tilts his hitai-ate over his left eye, mimicking a certain sensei that Team 7 knows and loves.

“What are you doing, Sasuke?” Sakura asks from beside him with her hands neatly clasped behind her back. 

Sasuke and Sakura are leaning against the guardrail, while Naruto is sitting directly on it. One good shove can knock Naruto right into the water, and Sasuke has to use every iota of self-restraint that he can muster to not give Naruto a quick shove as payback for this morning. Kakashi is already late, which seems to be the norm with him, so Sasuke doesn’t want to delay their training any longer.

“I’m seeing what Sensei sees. It’s a wonder that he’s such a good shinobi with all of these blindspots.”

Sakura and Naruto look at each other before tilting their hitai-ate over their left eyes, too. Sasuke actually has to fully turn his head to see Naruto since he’s sitting on his left side. 

“Are you three mocking me?” a voice drawls as a silver haired man body flickers in front of them. 

“No, Sensei!” Naruto exclaims with a mock salute. “We just think that you’re even more awesome since you can’t see your entire left side, y’know.”

“I never said that,” Sasuke mutters. 

“But you probably thought it,” Sakura counters, standing up straighter in the presence of their jonin mentor. “Good morning, Sensei!”

Kakashi flicks a lazy hand up. “I appreciate the greeting, Sakura. Good morning to you as well.”

Naruto hops off the guardrail and stands directly next to Sasuke, making the three of them form a neat line with Sasuke directly in the middle. And as the one in the middle, Sasuke feels Kakashi’s right eye trained on him for an almost unnervingly long amount of time. 

“What are we doing today?”

Kakashi puts a hand on his hip. “Today, we are starting on the Body Flicker Jutsu.” Kakashi throws a plastic bag in front of them that he was holding with his other hand. “It’s harsh on the body’s metabolic systems, so I went through the extra effort of going shopping for you three. Your welcome.”

Sasuke picks it up; it’s full of electrolyte drinks and protein bars in all kinds of flavors. Sakura looks more than impressed, and Naruto’s absolutely jubilant. 

“Choji always says that Pocari Sweat tastes good! But mom won’t ever let me have it, y’know.”

“Because you don’t need any more energy than you already have.”

“Trust me,” Kakashi says. “After today, you’ll all be begging for energy.”

The four of them walk to the training ground, and they find the genin of Team 10 on the ground while Asuma sits on a log with a wild grin on his face. Choji is spread eagle on the ground, wheezing. Ino is leaning her arms on a log with an almost picturesque quality to her pose. And Shikamaru is sitting cross-legged on the ground with a dead look on his face. 

“Yo, Kakashi!” Asuma greets. “Wasn’t your turn supposed to start two hours ago?”

“You made us train for an extra two hours!” Ino screeches as Sasuke resists the urge to block his ears. “If I become a paraplegic, I’m blaming you, Asuma-sensei.”

Kakashi looks at the rest of his team with a concerned look in his eye, but Sakura just noncommittally shrugs her shoulders at the blonde’s antics. It’s honestly a surprise that she hasn’t greeted Naruto or Sasuke yet. During their Academy days, Ino was a self-proclaimed Queen of Romance, that was the epitome of "girlish". 

“Sakura,” Choji says, tilting his neck up to look at them, “is that food in that bag? I can smell it. It smells like sports drinks and protein bars. Can you spare a dying man a drip of liquid and a crumb of food?” 

Ino snaps her fingers. “You already drank all of our Pocari Sweat, Choji. Save some for the rest of us.”

Sakura tosses a single bottle between the genin of Team 10, and they all jump to grab it, even Shikamaru of all people. Ino reigns triumphant as she drinks half the bottle with a wicked look in her eyes as Choji and Shikamaru can only look on. She tosses the rest to Shikamaru, he takes a sip, and then goes back to staring into nothingness as Choji chugs the rest. 

Sasuke’s starting to become concerned if this is what Kakashi means by “begging for energy”. Shikamaru always looks dead tired, but at least he always says something; he hasn’t said a word since Team 7 arrived. 

“Are we doing the same thing as them, Sensei?” Naruto asks. 

“No.” Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura all sigh in relief. “I think that we’re going to train much harder.”

Asuma claps his hands after putting out his cigarette with his foot. “Let’s leave Team 7 some room, guys. Do you guys want to watch or eat barbecue?”

Choji’s hand shoots up. “Barbeque! Definitely barbecue!” 

Like living ghosts, Team 10 marches off the training ground, with only looks of pity to say goodbye to their Team 7 counterparts. Ino’s missing her flirty spark and remarks. Choji looks skinnier, but that could just be Sasuke’s imagination. And Shikamaru looks the same as always. What the hell does Kakashi have planned for them?

\---

Sakura’s always known, but she really _knows_ now. She knows that Kakashi is a former Anbu Captain. But this recent lesson really demonstrates that his lackadaisical nature can be set aside for stern, matter-of-factness. The tree climbing exercise was probably just to test them.

Kakashi’s a bulldog. Currently, while Sakura and Sasuke are resting against some logs, he’s hounding Naruto down. 

“Imagination, Naruto. Use your imagination. Your body's here, but imagine that your body is over there.”

“I’m trying, Sensei,” Naruto whines. “But it’s really hard, y’know.”

“His teaching methods are like Itachi,” Sasuke says from beside her, sweaty and somewhat moody. “I guess that’s what happens when a genius tries teaching.”

Sakura shakes her head. All her life, she’s always been the dictionary definition of average. She doesn’t come from a prominent shinobi clan, so she’s never had that extra support to propel ninja clan kids to ultimate success. Instead, has two genin parents. Two genin parents that are chiefly opposed to trying to promote to chunin; in other words, the direct antithesis to shinobi geniuses. 

“He’s trying his best. You have to give him that.”

“Is effort ever truly enough?”

There it is: The self-pitying tone in Sasuke’s voice. Until Sai’s adoption into the Haruno household, Sakura lived her entire life as an only child. She’s never had to experience her parent’s split attention, or any of the feuds that seem to come from siblings. Sakura doesn’t even have any cousins that she’s close with like Hinata does. 

So, it makes it hard to empathize with Sasuke and Hinata—her two classmates that get overshadowed by their older, “genius” relatives. Uchiha Itachi is the famed Hokage’s eldest son, and Hyuga Neji was a prominent student from the year above them at the Academy. It’s almost funny how similar Sasuke and Hinata are. Both sink into literature to escape the world. Both are inheritors of famed dojutsu. Both of them are kind of standoffish until they get comfortable with somebody. Both of them even have younger siblings that are budding with talent.

Both of them are Sakura’s friends, friends that she’ll never be able to truly relate to. 

“Of course it’s enough,” Sakura says, bringing her knees against her chest and wrapping her arms around them. She tries offering Sasuke a smile, but even she can feel that it’s tight. “If it wasn’t, then shinobi would only come from prominent clans with hidden techniques and bloodlines.”

Sasuke hums and leans back fully against the log. Kakashi’s voice remains in the background, as does Naruto’s exasperation. Sasuke pulls out a kunai from his tool bag and tosses it in his hand like it’s a toy. Another difference between Sakura and Sasuke; Sakura grew up believing that kunai were weapons that literally take lives, while Sasuke’s been handling them basically since he was born. 

“That wasn’t what I meant. Even clan kids can turn out to be total duds. You know that we’re friends, but even Hinata lacks the talent to be a shinobi, and she’s the Hyuga heiress.”

Sakura really knows that Sasuke’s tired because he’s missing any snark. 

“It’s so stupid though,” Sakura finds herself saying. “She doesn’t even want to be a shinobi. Why does she try so hard?”

“That’s just the way it is with the clans, especially the Hyuga. Hinata’s just unlucky having been born as the heiress to the traditionalist Hyuga clan. You’re actually really fortunate, Sakura. I would kill to be clanless.”

Sakura doesn’t have time to respond because Naruto taps out by literally touching her shoulder. “Saaaakura, it’s your turn for one-on-ones.”

Naruto plops down next to her and chugs an entire bottle of Pocari Sweat before she can even get up. She grimaces as she walks up to Kakashi and his stupidly happy face that she can hardly see. She takes a steady breath, rubbing at her arm guards. 

She’s prepared for the worst when Kakashi says, “Imagine…” 

\---

As the sun sets into the horizon, Naruto’s entire body feels numb, and he assumes his other two teammates feel the same next to him. All three of them are spread eagle on the ground as Kakashi sits on one of the trio of logs with one leg over the other and a tilted head. 

“I’m honestly a tad bit disappointed. I thought one of you would at least execute a _clean_ body flicker by now.” 

“Why is it so hard? I thought it was a basic technique, y’know.” 

“It is. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy to learn.”

Naruto closes his eyes, with sleep threatening to overtake him. 

“Then why did you expect one of us to execute one today?” Sakura asks. 

Kakashi picks at his nails before looking up with his single eye. “I have high expectations.”

Sasuke clicks his tongue, but says nothing more. The four of them enter a pregnant silence before Naruto can’t stand it anymore and rams through it. 

“Sensei, Sakura, wanna come have dinner with us at our aunty’s dim sum restaurant?” 

“Dim sum?” Sakura echoes.

Sasuke sits up and crosses his legs. “It’s cuisine from the Land of Tea. One of our aunts married a guy from there and started a restaurant in the Uchiha district. They apparently got fresh duck today.”

“You know,” Kakashi starts, “I don’t think I’ve ever had dim sum before. Why don’t you three go ahead, and I’ll meet up with you. I have something to do beforehand.”

He body flickers away before any of them can respond, rubbing salt right into their wounds. Like three old people, they help each other up off of the ground as they stretch their backs and legs. For Naruto, it’s more of a physical thing, but Sasuke and Sakura complain about chakra depletion as well. For whatever reason, Naruto has never felt the symptoms of running low on chakra. 

They walk back to the village at a turtle’s pace, and Sakura recycles the plastic bag full of empty bottles and wrappers. Even after all that eating and drinking, Naruto is famished, feeling like he has an insatiable beast in his stomach. 

They make it to the restaurant, and Naruto and Sasuke are immediately swept into a hug by their aunty. She’s a plump and cheerful woman, and one of Naruto’s favorite extended Uchiha clan members other than their aunty who runs the bakery. There are way too many Uchiha, so every Uchiha adult is relegated to “aunty” or “uncle” in Naruto’s mind, while the kids are “cousins”.

“And who are you?” Aunty asks Sakura, affectionately setting her hands on her shoulder. “A girlfriend?”

Sakura vehemently shakes her head and hands, while both Naruto and Sasuke look away in unison. “No, no, no. Teammate. I’m their teammate.”

“Of course,” Aunty says with a booming laugh that is nearly as loud as the restaurant chatter. “You two officially became shinobi! That’s cause for celebration! Tonight's meal is on the house.” 

Sakura’s mouth gapes open. “No, it’s okay. We can pay.”

“Nonsense,” Aunty says as she starts leading them to a table, waving over a waiter to bring them tea. “Besides, their mother has been more than helpful with the initial funding of the restaurant. This is the least I can do, really.” 

Naruto plops down on one of the chairs, not feeling like he can stand for a second longer. No matter how many times he comes, he’s always fascinated by the revolving part of the large table. The restaurant itself is quite large actually, and if he remembers correctly, it was because the Uchiha clan has one of the largest districts in the village since it’s located at the village outskirts and could expand as much as they want. 

The Uchiha district, despite its namesake, has expanded past the Uchiha in general. In the restaurant, customers of different clans and professions are huddled around their respective tables while they socialize and eat the Land of Tea cuisine. Naruto starts salivating as he watches the passing carts full of delicious food. 

Sakura still looks hesitant as she sits next to him, and Sasuke looks indifferent as he sits on his other side. Aunty disappears, probably to do restaurant business, and Sakura spins the turntable to pour all three of them tea. 

“I’ve been thinking,” Naruto starts, ignoring Sasuke’s momentary snicker, “that this is the perfect opportunity to see Kakashi-sensei’s face.” 

This gets both of their attention because Sasuke raises an eyebrow while Sakura hums in response. 

“He’s never pulled his mask down in front of us has he,” Sakura muses. “How does he even eat in front of us?”

“He either shoves the food into his mouth really fast or turns while doing so,” Sasuke says before taking a sip of the scalding tea. Naruto doesn’t know how to do that; he always burns the roof of his mouth. 

“Why do you think he hides it?” Sakura continues.

Sasuke shakes his head with indifference, just sipping on his tea.

“Maybe he lips like cod roe?” Naruto wonders. Sasuke’s grip on his teacup tightens. “Or maybe buck teeth?” 

“Chicken feet,” Sasuke mutters, making Naruto squint his eyes. 

“I’m talking about his mouth, y’know.”

“No, you idiot. I’m talking about the food. He’ll have to fully pull down his mask to eat chicken feet.”

That’s true. Naruto isn’t particularly fond of chicken feet himself, but he does know that’s a food that would be hard to eat with a mask on. Wouldn’t any food be hard to eat with a mask on, though?

“How are we going to get him to eat it?” Sakura asks, joining in on the fun as Sasuke waves down a cart with chicken feet on it. 

“We can just ask him, right?”

Sasuke nods his head. The three of them are so starved that they start ordering and eating before their sensei arrives, believing that it’s better to ask for forgiveness than for permission. 

The table fills up with food since both Naruto and Sasuke request dishes from passing carts. Dumplings, spring rolls, noodle rolls, pork buns, spare ribs, and sticky rice all fill up the turntable. Naruto makes a face when Sasuke gets _vegetables_ and nearly gags when he and Sakura start eating it.

Their aunty comes to check on them a few times, and their uncle, who’s one of the chefs, comes to greet them as well. Kakashi arrives at the restaurant after Naruto bites into a spring roll and savors his favorite part—the crunchy end. 

“It’s good manners to wait for your entire party before eating,” Kakashi says as he sits directly across from Naruto at the six-person table. 

“It’s also good manners to be on time,” Sasuke clapsback after swallowing a soup dumpling. 

“You have me there,” Kakashi concedes. 

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura watch with hawkeyes as Kakashi pours himself a cup of tea. The anticipation is suffocating. Kakashi swirls the green liquid in his teacup, without taking a sip for a solid three minutes. Sakura almost squeals from next to him as Kakashi finally lifts the cup to his face, but three mouths drop open as a waiter picks up Kakashi’s water cup, with the metal pitcher perfectly obscuring their view of Kakashi’s lips. 

When the waiter finishes, Kakashi sets down his now empty cup, mask still covering the lower part of his face.

“Are the three of you full already? I just got here.” 

Sasuke grumbles under his breath, putting a nasty green leaf in his mouth. Sakura blinks down at her plate, looking lost in the world. Naruto can’t believe what just happened. It was pure unluckiness, right? The same thing can’t happen twice; they just need to keep on watching him. He tries to telepathically convey the sentiment to his teammates, and surprisingly enough, it seems to work somewhat. 

Sasuke subtly nods his head, while Sakura blinks out of her stupor to grab another dumpling.

Kakashi looks indecisive, taking an abnormally—and excruciatingly—long amount of time to fill up his plate. 

“Sensei,” Sasuke nonchalantly starts, “the chicken feet are especially good here. It’s one of Uncle’s specialties.” 

“Y-Yeah, it’s really good,” Sakura says with an audible gulp. Naruto lightly kicks her under the table and gives her a reassuring smile. 

“If you say so.” Kakashi slowly turns the table and takes one chicken foot out of its steaming basket. 

This time, it has to work. 

Kakashi picks it up with his chopsticks and grabs the very top of his mask with his other hand. He pinches it and— 

“I’m so sorry it took so long, but here’s the roasted duck I told your guys’ mother about.” Aunty leans over the table, moving aside some of the empty baskets on the table to make room for the duck, and most importantly, blocking their view of Kakashi’s face!

She turns her head to look at their teacher, and she nearly drops the plate with the duck on it. When the plate is safely on the table, she covers her mouth with one hand and fans herself with her other. She finally leans back—but it’s too late. Kakashi’s face is once again covered by black fabric and there’s clean chicken bones on his plate. 

Naruto hangs his head as Sasuke nearly stabs the table with his chopsticks. None of them saw it, yet again. 

“Oh my. Oh, oh my. Are you their jonin mentor?” Kakashi nods his head. “Are you single? I believe my daughter just happens to be your age. I’m telling you that this restaurant is a very lucrative business. You’ll be set for the rest of your life!”

Kakashi shakes his head. “I’m sorry, but I’m happy the way I am now. I’m sure your daughter is a lovely lady, though.”

“Well, you’re welcome to come anytime. You are a very handsome young man!”

“Why thank you,” Kakashi graciously says. 

Naruto reaches out to take a piece of duck, but the taste of failure is stronger than the freshness. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura eat their duck with the knowledge that they won’t be seeing their sensei’s face today. At least they got a free meal to cover the wound somewhat.

After waving Kakashi and Sakura goodbye, Naruto and Sasuke file into their house with tiredness and defeat. They find Itachi sitting on the couch already in his sleepwear and looking at a scroll.

“Hey, Itachi,” Naruto says before going to his room. Sasuke stops next to him with a raised eyebrow. “Do you know what Kakashi-sensei looks like under his mask?”

Without missing a beat or looking up, Itachi says, “Of course, he was my mentor for many years. He showed me on our first long term mission. That was maybe a week after I joined his squad.”

Sasuke stomps to his room and shuts his door behind him. Itachi looks up at Naruto, but Naruto stomps to his room, too, and collapses onto his futon that he never put away. _See, Mom,_ Naruto thinks. _Doing things later can be good sometimes._

\---

Kakashi meanders back to his apartment after dinner to find Natsu lounging on the couch with a book in hand that’s probably a boring medical journal or something similar. 

“Did you get my note?” Kakashi asks, shedding off his jonin vest, hitai-ate, and face mask, fully exposing his face for the first time in hours. 

“Yeah, I just had cup noodles since my personal chef wasn’t home.” Natsu looks up from his book and cocks an eyebrow. “Why is your shit eating grin more shit eating than usual? Was dim sum with your team that fun?”

“You can say that I just had a very fun day,” Kakashi says, lowering down onto the couch, too. Upon a closer look at the page Natsu’s reading, the _terminology_ looks less medical and more obscene. Kakashi chuckles as he shoves Natsu closer against the back of the couch, so that he can lounge with him and snuggle up against him. 

“I’m not even going to ask,” Natsu responds, flicking the page. 

Kakashi is sure that in due time, his team will be able to witness the shit eating grin beneath the mask. But that time is not now.


End file.
